Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Artificial’ Wasn’t a Big Tech Casualty, Distributors Say: “It’s Dull” and “A Misfire”

I’ve questioned whether there was much merit to the narrative that Amazon/MGM got rid of Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial” because of the company’s ties to Big Tech. After all, if this film were truly great — a genuine Oscar contender — there was very little chance it would have been dumped the way it was. Maybe, all along, it was simply a matter of the film not being all that good.

As Neon leans toward not sending “Artificial” to any of the fall fests, Screen Daily has a report in which they ask distributors who considered buying the film what they actually thought of this hot potato.

“The purported controversy had no impact,” said one, in reference to conspiracies that pressure from Big Tech, particularly Sam Altman and OpenAI, contributed to Amazon/MGM getting rid of the film.

The source, which is connected to one of the studios that viewed the film at CAA-organized screenings, says it all has to do with the film’s qualities, or lack thereof: “The film was viewed exclusively on its merits as a film: unfortunately, it’s dull, ponderous, and another misfire from Luca. Its poor test scores and rejection from other buyers also reflect that.”

Sources at other studios that screened the film were mixed on “Artificial.” Some called it “mediocre,” adding that it “offered no new information about the saga or the billionaire protagonists.”

One of the positives of the film, cited by two sources, seems to be the performance of Oscar-nominated Yura Borisov (“Anora”), who is said to be a standout as Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s Israeli original chief scientist.

There has been plenty of mixed signaling when it comes to this film. Test scores were underwhelming, and the CAA screenings were not particularly positive. According to Page Six Hollywood’s sources, one buyer who saw the film claimed “there wasn’t some grand conspiracy at work,” but rather that Amazon/MGM’s decision to get rid of the film came down to a “question of taste,” with some “simply not liking” Guadagnino’s latest.

Despite all that, Neon believes in this film, and that’s despite getting it for free from Amazon/MGM, as long as they take care of the roughly $20M in marketing costs. There has been an indication that they are also “bullish” about its Oscar chances, with a campaign currently being mounted for the film.