Andrew Garfield addresses controversy around 'Artificial' OpenAI film

Andrew Garfield has addressed the recent controversy surrounding Artificial, the upcoming OpenAI drama directed by Luca Guadagnino, following the film's move from Amazon MGM Studios to Neon.

Speaking at the New York premiere of his latest film, The Magic Faraway Tree, Garfield reflected on the project's journey after Amazon dropped the film earlier this year.

"This business is in an interesting place," Garfield told The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm fascinated by how things work. I'm really grateful to Amazon for making the film with us and I'm also really grateful to Amazon for helping it find a new home. And I think Neon's a really, really exciting home for it. I think it's a really good fit and I'm really excited to release it with them."

He added that Neon is "a daring studio doing daring films so I'm very, very excited to be partnering with them on it."

Artificial attracted attention after Amazon MGM Studios announced in June that it would no longer distribute the film, despite Amazon's multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI.

At the time, the studio said it believed the project would be "better served" by another distributor and would work with the filmmakers to secure a new home.

After weeks of uncertainty, Neon acquired the film. According to reports, several studios, including Warner Bros., Netflix and Focus, passed on the project, with sources citing a range of factors, including political concerns.

The film has been described as a drama inspired by the events at OpenAI in 2023, when chief executive Sam Altman was removed from his role before being reinstated days later. Garfield stars as Altman.

The supporting cast includes Yura Borisov as OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, Monica Barbaro as chief technology officer Mira Murati and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.

A release date for Artificial has not yet been announced.