NEON has just bought the global rights to Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s film ‘Artificial’.
This deal comes after the news that Amazon MGM, the film’s original distributor, opted out and put the film up for sale for other distribution companies.
The film production and distribution company dropped the $40 million film before its completion, making the search for another distributor of utmost importance.
This might be because of the controversial subject matter at the heart of the film which revealed the corporate conflict of interest on Amazon’s part, writes Film News Blitz’s Arwen Lehmann.
What is the film about?
Artificial is set against the backdrop of Sam Altman’s firing and rehiring by OpenAI as CEO of the company which transpired in 2023.
The film zooms in on the crucial few days leading up to these events and explores the fate of who gets to control the most powerful technology in the world in the current moment.
Altman will be played by Andrew Garfield whilst business and tech mogul Elon Musk will be played by Ike Barinholtz.
Joining the duo is Mark Rylance, Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch and Cooper Hoffman.
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Why did Amazon MGM back out?
Amazon backed out as distributor of Guadagnino’s new film despite having a long history with the multi award-winning director, having distributed four of his films in the past.
Amazon MGM, however, after a test screening of the film, decided to not go forward with the film.
Their sudden separation from the project does become a bit more decipherable when considering their $50 billion investment in OpenAI which was announced in February.
The OpenAI investment and partnership would have evidently clashed with Amazon’s distribution of a film which depicted the CEO of the company critically.
What else do we know about the film?
The film was written by former SNL writer Simon Rich, which could mean that the humourist and comedy writer might have infused some comedic elements into the drama.
The original score will be produced by Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, which he explained will be a blend of orchestral and electronic sounds.
Guadagnino has also confirmed that Artificial will compete in the next Oscars, therefore aiming for the film to be released in the coming months.
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