Andrew Garfield Plays Sam Altman in Guadagnino's OpenAI Drama Artificial

The battle for OpenAI has moved from the boardroom to the cinema.

Artificial, directed by Luca Guadagnino, is a docudrama, a drama built around real people and events, about the founders of OpenAI and centred on chief executive Sam Altman. Altman is played by Andrew Garfield, according to Variety. That review, published on 6 October 2026, called the film the real sequel to The Social Network.

The cast puts familiar faces on a technology story. Yura Borisov plays Ilya Sutskever and Mark Rylance plays Geoffrey Hinton alongside Garfield as Altman. The screenplay is by Simon Rich, and the film had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, Variety reported.

The story turns on a sacking. Altman was suddenly fired in 2023, a rupture outlined in early trailer coverage, according to Variety. The film depicts his abrupt firing and reinstatement at OpenAI, according to The Guardian. One dismissal. One return.

Neon has set out how it will position the performances for awards season. It will campaign for Garfield in the supporting actor category and for Borisov in the lead actor category at the Oscars, Variety reported. In plain terms, voters would be asked to weigh Borisov as the central performance and Garfield as the supporting turn. The choice swaps the expected order, with the best-known figure placed in support.

The real-life subject has already had a close encounter with the production. Altman said the film shot outside his house and that he waved at Garfield during the shoot, Variety reported. Guadagnino said he is "not afraid" of potential backlash from Altman over the film, Variety reported. The director spoke before the premiere. The subject watched from his own street.

The route to the screen included a change of backer. Amazon dropped Guadagnino's OpenAI film, according to Vulture. The production then continued to completion and a festival launch in New York.

What makes this stand out is speed. A corporate upheaval from 2023 is now a festival premiere with an awards campaign attached. For general audiences, this means the OpenAI saga will play out in cinemas as well as in headlines.