How does Andrew Garfield feel about Amazon MGM Studios dumping Luca Guadagnino‘s upcoming movie “Artificial,” in which he plays OpenAI CEO Sam Altman? Let’s just say the actor’s answer to that question is mixed.
“I was and I wasn’t,” Garfield told Variety when the outlet asked him if he was surprised when Amazon MGM dropped the film earlier this year. “I think there are certain things that fit certain places and don’t fit other places, and they [Amazon] were nothing but supportive and nothing but encouraging while we were making the film. Luca has a really great relationship with them, and I’ve developed a lovely relationship with them as well. I’m grateful that they’ve helped the film to find the home that it was meant to find.”
That’s a very safe answer to a story that’s had bad optics from the start. About six weeks ago, Amazon MGM announced that it believed it would “be better served if [Guadagnino’s film] were released by a different studio.” Scrutiny followed, as Amazon’s choice to drop “Artificial” came in the wake of Amazon signing a major partnership with OpenAI, along with a $50 billion investment, and less than a year after Altman attended Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos‘s wedding. Neon scooped up “Artificial” in late June, taking it off Amazon MGM’s hands for no upfront money. The film hits theaters later this year, and Neon eyes an awards season campaign for it.
Guadagnino’s latest, written by Simon Rich, follows OpenAI’s 2023 firing and subsequent rehiring of Garfield’s Altman. But the actor revealed that he didn’t get in touch with Altman while he prepped for the role. “I wouldn’t know how to. I don’t have his number. I don’t have his email,” Garfield told Variety. “But I’m sure that he’d be able to reach me if he wants to. I’d be very excited and curious to talk with him if he would ever want to do that.”
Instead of meeting Altman one-on-one, Garfield researched the CEO via public material. “He’s very, very documented,” explained the actor. “There are lots of interviews. There’s lots of visuals and audio and reporting. I, of course, would have loved and still would love to meet Sam. But I’m playing a version of the character that was written in the script, and I think that while you want to be as truthful to that as you can, you’re never going to understand anyone ever fully ever anyway. We’re all so complicated and deeply layered, and I think that Mr. Altman is probably no exception.”
“Artificial” also stars Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Mark Rylance, Ike Barinholtz, Jason Schwartzman, Zosia Mamet, Cooper Hoffman, Chris O’Dowd, Cooper Koch, and Billie Lourd. And one of Garfield’s co-stars, young Mr. Hoffman, had a different take on Amazon MGM pulled out of Guadagnino’s film. “I’m shocked they picked it up in the first place,” Hoffman told Variety. “I was like this feels like you are all in like, I don’t know … I don’t know who’s running everything. When they dropped it, it was kinda like, ‘Oh, yeah, that kinda actually makes sense,’ but then it got picked up by Neon, which I’m so happy about. I love Neon, and I couldn’t be more happy.”
But will Amazon MGM regret handing “Artificial” over to Neon for nothing? Maybe if the film makes a splash when it hits theaters, as Neon eyes a late December release. It’s not a smart move to bet against a movie by an auteur like Guadagnino, especially one about a topic as hot as AI.
