Andrew Garfield on Amazon MGM axing Artificial: 'I was and wasn't surprised'
While promoting Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film, Andrew Garfield talked through Amazon MGM’s decision to drop Artificial, framing it in terms of how the project evolved behind the scenes.
Here’s a properly modern Hollywood mess for you: Artificial, the Luca Guadagnino-helmed drama about OpenAI’s Sam Altman starring Andrew Garfield, just got passed around the film industry like a proverbial hot potato. Imagine The Social Network, but swapping Mark Zuckerberg’s nervy blandness for Silicon Valley’s weirdest disruptor – and, if you believe those close to the project, not exactly in a flattering light.
Originally, Amazon MGM was going to give Artificial its home, even as Amazon itself readied a $50 billion investment into OpenAI back in February. Then Amazon, perhaps feeling that dramatizing the prickly birth of ChatGPT so close to their latest business partner might be a bit awkward, abruptly dropped the film.
Artificial was set adrift by Amazon MGM only months after the studio’s $50 billion investment in OpenAI.
Garfield’s Take on Amazon Bailing
On the publicity trail for his other film, The Magic Faraway Tree, Garfield finally addressed the not-so-little scandal. Variety lobbed him the inevitable question: was he surprised when Amazon bailed on the project? Not quite a yes or no, but here’s how Garfield described it in his typically Zen style:
“I was and I wasn’t. 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.”
In other words: it’s all very showbiz. No hard feelings, no bridges burned – but let’s be honest, the timing of Amazon’s exit doesn’t exactly look accidental.
Cooper Hoffman: Well, That Was Odd
On the other end of the spectrum, Cooper Hoffman, who has a role in Artificial, admitted he never expected Amazon MGM to go for it in the first place. Here’s how he put it when Variety caught up with him on the red carpet at I Want Your Sex:
"I’m shocked they picked it up in the first place. 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.”
At least NEON, when they stepped in to rescue Artificial, knew exactly what they were getting into. And that’s where the deal gets even juicier.
NEON’s Unusual Deal
According to Page Six, NEON only agreed to distribute Artificial under a no-money guarantee. In plain English: they can take it to the awards circuit, but nobody’s getting paid up front – not the usual arrangement for a $40-$50 million prestige picture loaded with buzzy names. Trouble is, for all its topical sizzle, the studios made Artificial their own little taboo and it ended up with very little bargaining power.