Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) indicated he was unsurprised when Amazon MGM Studios dropped his biopic on OpenAI founder Sam Altman, titled Artificial.
Guadagnino recently appeared on “Otto e Mezzo” on Italy’s La7 Attualità. Host Lilli Gruber asked him why the film was perceived as dangerous, to which he responded:
“Unfortunately, I can’t say much because we are right in the middle of this situation. [But] these are industrial policies that are certainly not new.”
Guadagnino went on to speak about the broader implications of AI use:
“To me, the issue isn’t artificial intelligence itself…From one perspective, it’s a technological gadget – and not a particularly sophisticated one, at that – full of flaws, though it will likely improve over time.
What matters most to me is how people are completely changing the face, not just of society – in terms of consumption habits and how we interact with these tools – but the very face of the identity of a place like the United States and the entire world.”
Artificial was primarily shot in San Francisco, and Guadagnino remarked on the significance of the location. “[It is] a place of great beauty but also great despair, with so many homeless people, so many people living under the influence of fentanyl, while these wonderful, silent, self-driving cars glided past them. That, to me, is the perfect image to illustrate the theme. It is a disturbing image – more than just disturbing.”
The film is described as a comedic drama set in 2023 at OpenAI when Altman was fired and rehired in a matter of days. With a $40 million budget, Andrew Garfield stars as Altman and Ike Barinholtz (The Studio) as Elon Musk. Oscar Nominee Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Chris O’Dowd and Oscar Winner Mark Rylance co-star.
According to Variety, Amazon isn’t the only studio to have passed on this project. Focus Features, Warner Bros.’ Clockwork, A24, and Netflix also passed on acquiring it.
With the movie still awaiting distribution, it’s unclear when Guadagnino’s latest project might finally hit our screens.
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