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OpenAI CEO biopic Artificial from Challengers director to show at BFI London Film Festival 2026
Andrew Garfield plays Sam Altman in the hotly-anticipated film.
NEON
- Patrick Cremona
Published: Tuesday, 1 September 2026 at 5:13 pm
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Luca Guadagnino's upcoming film about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been confirmed as a Gala Screening at this year's BFI London Film Festival.
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The drama, titled Artificial, – which will see Andrew Garfield starring as the controversial tech mogul – had been dramatically dropped by original distributor Amazon Prime Video earlier in the year before being picked up by NEON.
And while an official UK release date has not yet been revealed for the film, we do now know that it will screen at the prestigious festival – the full programme of which will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday 2 September).
The Gala screening will take place on Sunday 11 October, less than a week after the film's world premiere at the New York Film Festival on Monday 5 October, with talent expected to be in attendance.
Alongside Garfield, the starry cast for the film also includes Anora breakout Yura Borisov, A Complete Unknown star Monica Barbaro and Licorice Pizza's Cooper Hoffman.
CEO and co-founder of OpenAI Sam Altman. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Meanwhile, there are also roles for Jason Schwartzman, Chris O’Dowd, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Mark Rylance and Ike Barinholtz – the latter of whom will be taking on the role of Elon Musk.
The script for the film was penned by novelist and screenwriter Simon Rich, whose only previous feature film credit was the 2020 comedy An American Pickle.
The official synopsis teases: "Artificial chronicles the incredibly consequential days leading up to the sudden firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI, as the fate of who gets to control the technology at the centre of an AI arms race hangs in the balance."
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After Artificial had been dropped by Amazon, reports suggested it was because the film had portrayed Altman in a negative light.
An Amazon spokesperson did not go into specific reasons, but said: "We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker – not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue.
The statement continued: "We believe that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio and are working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home."
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Authors
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
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