With DC’s Sgt. Rock no longer on his schedule, Luca Guadagnino has now lined up a brand-new movie project to direct.
Guadagnino is in talks to direct Artificial, a recounting of the tumultuous period at artificial intelligence company OpenAI in 2023 that saw CEO Sam Altman fired and rehired in a matter of days.
Heyday Films’ David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford are producing the feature that is being put together at lightning speed at Amazon MGM Studios. Simon Rich wrote the script and will also produce, with Jennifer Fox also in talks to produce.
How fast is this moving? Sources say Amazon is looking to get production going this summer, with an eye to shoot in San Francisco and Italy.
Actors are being lined up, although no deals are made and much is contingent on Guadagnino’s deal being closed. Andrew Garfield, A Complete Unknown scene-stealer Monica Barbaro, and Anora actor Yura Borisov are among those said to be circling.
Altman co-founded OpenAI, but in the fall of 2023, after mounting safety concerns regarding AI, and reports of abusive behavior, was ousted as the head of the company by his board. Five days later, after a revolt, he was reinstated. Sources say that if all goes as planned, Garfield would play Altman, Barbaro would play chief technology office Mira Murati, and Borisov would play Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder who led the movement to get rid of Altman.
Artificial will unite Guadagnino and Amazon MGM for the third time. He directed After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri, which the studio is releasing in theaters Oct. 10. He also directed Challengers, starring Zendaya, which the studio released theatrically last year.
Luca had been previously on track to shoot Rock, a World War Two action movie that would have starred Colin Farrell, for DC. That project had been eying a late summer start of production before DC reconsidered its plans, citing “daylight issues.” Now, ironically, Guadagnino’s new project will likely begin before Rock’s original start.
