Amazon MGM made waves in June when the studio announced it would be dropping Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman biopic “Artificial” from its release slate, despite the film being nearly finished. Coming hot on the heels of Amazon’s $50 billion investment in OpenAI, the film seemed caught in the crossfire of the tech company’s conflicting goals with its own film division.
However, Monica Barbaro, who stars in the film said to be critical of Altman, apparently wasn’t all that worried.
“I don’t want to sound callous about it, but I wasn’t concerned,” she told InStyle on Wednesday. “I just trusted so much of the feedback I was getting about the movie, that it was really well liked, and I trust in Luca.”
Barbaro spoke to InStyle ahead of the Friday release of her new rom-com “One Night Only,” a film about a dystopian future where unmarried people are only legally allowed to have sex on a single designated night every year. While Calum Turner plays her love interest in that movie, she shares the screen in “Artificial” with Andrew Garfield, her current real-life partner who stars as Altman.
“He’s one of the best actors of his generation, our generation,” she said of Garfield. “I just learned a lot from his approach to the material and to developing character, and I felt very fortunate to get to witness that in real time.”
“Artificial” has since been rescued by Neon, which plans to distribute it in 2026 and give it the full awards push that Amazon MGM seemed to be planning. This will be Guadagnino’s first time working with Neon. He previously partnered with Amazon on such films as last year’s “After the Hunt” and 2024’s “Challengers.” Neither made waves at the Academy Awards, though Neon has a solid track record at the Oscars, with “Parasite” and “Anora” both taking home the Best Picture prize.
“Artificial” does not currently have a release date, though Neon intends to distribute it in 2026.
