Here’s the teaser for Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial,” which Neon has officially dated for a December 25, 2026 release. I’ve also posted some first look images below. It looks and feels more like the “spiritual sequel” of “The Social Network” than Sorkin’s upcoming Facebook movie.
“Artificial” had been described by a test attendee as “The Social Network” for the AI era; it reportedly explores Sam Altman’s rise, his ties to OpenAI, and the figures behind what may become one of the most significant technological shifts of our time.
The central figure is actually Ilya Sutskever (Yura Borisov), the idealistic, somewhat naïve technical mind behind OpenAI, while Altman—played by Andrew Garfield—enters more prominently around the midpoint, depicted as maneuvering his way to the top. The rest of the ensemble cast is said to include Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.
“Artificial” found its way to Guadagnino after production on “Sgt. Rock”—the DC Studios film starring Colin Farrell—was scrapped. Rather than wait it out, Guadagnino began scouting for a new project he could turn around quickly, ultimately landing on “Artificial,” which began production in summer 2025.
A problem arose sometime early this year when Amazon/MGM decided to postpone the film’s release to 2027. The official story fed to the trades was that, after viewing a completed cut, Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon/MGM, ultimately decided to pull the film from its planned release.
A few months later, Neon acquired “Artificial,” and it is now not only set to screen at NYFF on Oct. 5 at Alice Tully Hall — where it will be part of the prestigious Main Slate — but will also be Oscar-campaigned with a Christmas Day theatrical rollout.
Mulaney is indeed eyeing a starring role as wisenheimer Agent Maxwell Smart. They do not mention Russell. Seth Grahame-Smith (“Now You See Me, Now You Don’t”) is penning the screenplay.