- The first trailer for Neon's Sam Altman biopic Artificial has been revealed
- The Andrew Garfield-led movie will be released in late 2026/early 2027
- It covers Altman's controversial rise to prominence as OpenAI's co-founder
The first trailer for Artificial, a movie about controversial OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, has been revealed.
Unveiled yesterday (September 8), the teaser for the Neon-distributed film strikes an unusually sinister tone for what's being billed as a biographical comedy-drama.
Indeed, from the gun-laden room that lead star Andrew Garfield, who'll portray Altman, visits, to Garfield's unsettling voiceover that plays over Artificial's publicly-released footage, it's certainly foreboding in nature. I get the feeling, then, that it'll be a dark-comedy dramatization of Altman's rise of prominence, the launch of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, and his brief and somewhat disputable ousting as OpenAI CEO in late 2023.
Artificial will initially debut in US theaters on December 25, 2026, before receiving a wider international rollout in early 2027. UK viewers, for example, will have to wait until January 22, 2027 to catch one of many new movies that'll arrive in the months ahead.
Artificial cast and crew: who's involved?
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name) is on directing duties, while Saturday Night Live writing alumnus Simon Rich has penned its screenplay. Meanwhile, Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn has also created original music and songs for Artificial.
Where the movie's cast is concerned, Garfield, who impersonates another Silicon Valley techbro following his portrayal of Eduardo Savarin in The Social Network, aka the 2010 dramatization about Facebook's creation, is arguably its most recognizable star — and based on what little footage we've seen thus far, he appears to have Altman's mannerisms, vernacular, and other unique traits down to a tee.
Here's who else you'll see in Artificial:
- Yura Borisov (Anora) as Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientific officer and co-founder
- Monica Barbaro (Crime 101) as Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer
- Cooper Hoffman (The Long Walk) as Greg Brockman, OpenAI's chairman
- Ike Barinholtz (The Studio) as Elon Musk
- Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) as Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called 'Godfather of AI'
- Jason Schwartzman (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as TBC
- Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) as TBC
What is the plot of Artificial?
Here's the official logline for Artifical: "[The movie] chronicles the incredibly consequential days leading up to the sudden firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman, as the fate of who gets to control the technology at the centre of an AI arms race hangs in the balance."
It's unclear how much of Altman's backstory, his various relationships with his OpenAI colleagues, and ChatGPT's launch and subsequent sociopolitical impact will be covered as part of Artificial's story. One thing is for sure, though: given that it dramatizes events concerning Altman and OpenAI, the discourse that will surround Artificial's release will be impossible to ignore.
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