Andrew Garfield Becomes OpenAI Boss Sam Altman in Artificial

Andrew Garfield is stepping into the world of artificial intelligence for one of his most unusual roles yet, playing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino’s new film Artificial.

Rather than simply focusing on Altman’s dramatic firing and return to OpenAI in 2023, Artificial goes much further back to explore how some of the biggest names in modern artificial intelligence became connected.

The story begins in 2003 with Ilya Sutskever, played by Yura Borisov, studying artificial neural networks under AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, played by Mark Rylance. It then follows the events that eventually bring Sutskever together with Altman and lead towards the creation and rapid rise of OpenAI.

And despite the subject matter, Artificial is not simply a serious boardroom drama. The 140 minute film is being described as a biographical comedy drama, mixing humour with the extraordinary personalities, ambition and power struggles behind the rise of artificial intelligence. Damon Albarn has also created original songs and the score for the movie.

Amazon MGM Studios originally developed and financed the production, reportedly costing around $40 million, before deciding not to distribute the completed film. The move attracted even more attention because Amazon had separately announced a huge $50 billion investment in OpenAI.

That timing inevitably prompted questions over whether the two developments were connected, although there is no confirmed evidence that OpenAI was involved in Amazon’s decision.

The film is now heading for two major festival appearances. Artificial will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on 5 October 2026, before receiving a Gala screening at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 October.

With OpenAI’s extraordinary boardroom battle at its centre and controversy already surrounding the movie before release, Artificial could become one of the year’s most talked about films about the AI revolution.

Artificial premieres at the New York Film Festival on 5 October 2026 before its BFI London Film Festival Gala screening on 11 October.

A wider UK cinema release date has yet to be confirmed. Keep checking SoapLandTV for the latest TV and film news.