Hollywood Avoids Telling Critical Stories About Tech Titans

Netflix, A24, Focus Features, and Warner Bros.' Clockwork have all reportedly passed on acquiring distribution rights for "Artificial" — Luca Guadagnino's biographical drama about OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman. While Neon and Mubi are still interested, the situation suggests Hollywood lacks the courage to tell critical stories about Big Tech.

The film was nearly finished with postproduction when Amazon MGM unexpectedly announced it would no longer distribute it. This came as a surprise given Amazon had planned a short Oscar-qualifying theatrical run and a wider release in early 2027, as well as a showing at SXSW. Those plans are now canceled.

Amazon hasn't detailed why it dropped the film, but told Deadline it would be "better served if it were released by a different studio." The decision follows Amazon's $50 billion investment in OpenAI earlier this year. Amazon wants to be a major player in AI, and it's easy to see why it might avoid releasing a film portraying an AI executive negatively.

Written by Simon Rich, "Artificial" chronicles the 2023 turmoil when Altman was fired from OpenAI and rehired days later. The drama began with the board alleging Altman's lack of candor, then Altman's planned move to Microsoft, and employee threats to quit. It ended with Altman's return and a new board.

More alarming is that other studios are following Amazon's lead. Google DeepMind announced a $75 million research partnership with A24 to develop filmmaking technologies, including a storyboarding app. Though the deal doesn't involve access to A24's library, the lack of clarity has drawn criticism. A24 faced online backlash after posting the trailer for Jesse Eisenberg's "The Debut" due to the DeepMind collaboration.

Disney, Netflix, and Paramount Skydance have also made AI deals. This paints a bleak future where studios avoid content that might upset tech executives, putting profits over art.