We already knew that Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial” would entirely skip festivals, with Neon expected to release the film “this fall. Sources close to the movie claim that Neon is “bullish” on “Artificial’s” awards prospects, believing it “should at least feature in the awards conversation.” So, when is it actually coming out?
Venice boss Alberto Barbera has confirmed to THR that Neon sees the film as “a strong contender for the Oscars next year,” but the distributor will not be ready to release it until early 2027, with only a late December qualifying run planned. He suggested the studio needed time to arrange international sales, explaining that they did not want to premiere the film before selling it worldwide.
As for the film’s quality, Barbera said he had seen and admired the movie, calling it “a great, great movie,” but explained that its absence from the festival lineup was due to timing and distribution issues rather than a lack of interest.
Early word on “Artificial” has been mixed, and it remains to be seen whether the film can ultimately emerge as a serious Oscar contender. The film will either disappear amid the deluge of late-year awards contenders or somehow manage to stand out.
“Artificial” follows Ilya Sutskever (played by Yura Borisov), the idealistic, slightly naïve brain behind the OpenAI operation, and Sam Altman, played by Andrew Garfield, who maneuvers his way to the top. The ensemble cast also includes Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.
Guadagnino is coming off “After the Hunt,” produced by Amazon MGM, which was released last fall and received largely negative reviews from critics. His previous credits include “I Am Love,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Challengers,” “Queer,” “Bones and All,” and “Suspiria.”
A few weeks ago, Neon acquired “Artificial” after Amazon MGM dropped the nearly completed film in a “no money guarantee” deal, meaning the distributor would cover marketing and release costs without an upfront licensing payment. The acquisition came after several major distributors, including Netflix, A24, Focus Features, and Warner Bros., passed on the $40M drama.
For Schrader, AI solves the curious practical filmmaking problem he had. How about just creating Black people? No casting calls, no agents, no actors turning down the roles.