Where to watch Luca Guadagnino’s film OpenAI? industrial Go now?
That’s the question that’s been swirling around Hollywood since news broke that Amazon MGM Studios had dropped the feature just months after Amazon entered into a $50 billion investment with Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
This choice was particularly interesting for Hollywood audiences, who, in the age of mergers, acquisitions and private equity investments, are competing with more than a few minefields. This situation is not without its (if not exact) comp. donald trump movie, trainee, It had difficulty selling at the Cannes Film Festival. Before that, Warner Bros. Many films that were nearing completion were unloaded for tax purposes. We’re in an age where completed films are being thrown away more easily than ever before.
The film is now being marketed to other distributors by CAA Media Finance, with several major studios already out of the running. And while it’s easy to be complacent with a situation like this — especially at a time when tech companies have such a large presence not just in entertainment but in our lives and entire companies seem to serve the president’s best interests — it’s also helpful to look at industrial Within the broader context of the entertainment industry.
Below, film reporters Boris Kate and Mia Galuppo try to do just that.
Mia Galupo News broke last week that Amazon would drop her film industrial. Were you surprised by the announcement?
Boris group I was. But sometimes I’m naive when it comes to politics and art in Hollywood. Listen, we’re at this point now where there’s a lot of entanglement between Hollywood and tech companies. There are plenty of reasons why a studio might drop a movie, but never have the people who make movies been as intertwined with Big Tech and politics as they are now. We’re already starting to see how this will impact what is manufactured.
mg Amazon Studios’ business is a small part of its larger business. Amazon’s larger business needs will always come before the studio’s wants and needs. Amazon’s $50 billion investment in OpenAI came with the news that OpenAI would use Amazon’s Web Services infrastructure. Having read a copy of the screenplay (no spoilers!), it’s a less than flattering portrait of Sam Altman, to put it mildly. He is portrayed as a sociopath, if it weren’t that simple. And also excellent The New Yorker The story of Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz suggests that Sam Altman is sensitive about his image. So Amazon is left with the calculus of risking a $50 billion business relationship for the sake of a movie.
With you Sometimes I don’t understand why big studios make these kind of movies. For many of us watching these developments, we see that they are not exactly commercial. And you can certainly say there’s a reason to do it for the sake of art, but let’s be clear: there’s limited commercial aspect to a film like this.
mg How interested would American moviegoing audiences be in a story about the inner workings of OpenAI? Many people have used it Social network As a comp industrialBut when this movie came out in 2010, Facebook was still Facebook, not dead. It wouldn’t take over Instagram for another two years. Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t building bunkers in Hawaii yet. Now that I think about it, where is he? Which film?
with industrialWe are talking about an emerging technology that has become synonymous with environmental degradation and disinformation that is ending democracy. And while some people might say that’s exactly why a movie like this was made industrialit’s not the kind of movie audiences were clamoring to see in 2026, when Hopecore, a… Hail Mary projectHe played well.
With you since Social networkThe balance of power between Hollywood and technology has shifted in one direction. And I don’t say that industrial It shouldn’t be done, but movie like industrial20 years ago, would have been an HBO movie. Now, it’s a streaming movie. So, as far as theatricality goes, I’m not sure what Amazon thought they were doing with this in the first place.
mg Well, at the time, Amazon was in Luca Guadagnino’s business. They worked together in the movie Zendaya Unitedwhich did strong box office numbers, taking in $96 million worldwide, and then, if Amazon shares the numbers, we’ll likely see it do more business for Prime Video when it starts streaming. The meme generation alone was something the studio’s social media marketing team could only dream of. Luca and Amazon MGM have re-teamed to star Julia Roberts After fishingwhich grossed nearly $9 million at the global box office on a budget of more than $70 million and wasn’t the awards Amazon was hoping for. industrialwhich Luca came to after his DC movie Sgt. Rock It has been pushed indefinitely, and was previously greenlit After fishing out.
With you The talent really loves working with Luca, so she always delivers a nice looking package.
mg In terms of talent, Andrew Garfield, who plays Altman, is definitely a name. The rest of the cast is filled with up-and-comers like Monica Barbaro and Yura Borisov. They’re both recent Oscar nominees! But neither has been tested theatrically. Lacking significant Zendaya-level star power, you have to defer to the story (see: note above about public interest in OpenAI) and your filmmaker. Luca is a draw in New York and Los Angeles, for sure. But can it get audiences into theaters in the way that the purchase price of this film requires? Which brings us to the current question: Where can this film end up?
With you Many of these big studios were not interested in the script stage. Now, they are distressed assets. This movie has to be 100 percent hit, and hit out of the park for it to work. It has to fly on its own artistic merit. From the whispers we heard, some people think it is quality Not there.
mg Still others say it’s a really great movie. Each potential buyer comes with their own mandates and already packed calendars. Even if these studios pass it on at the script stage, they may now see something in it that they haven’t seen before. But it’s either a commercial play or an awards play – and preferably both! The movie is in post and wasn’t supposed to be ready this fall anyway. Sony already has its own technology-focused drama Social account. David Ellison’s company, Paramount, is not in the business of acquiring anything politically sensitive at this moment. industrial It makes no sense for Disney (even if the company’s OpenAI deal collapses in March). Netflix exited the Cannes Film Festival, buying up quite a few titles that could take home awards. Now, A24, Uni’s Focus Features and Netflix have all been reported to have ended, and we’ve heard of a lack of interest from others like Lionsgate and Warners, leaving smaller companies behind.
With you A small company that wants to build a relationship with a filmmaker like Luca can get that. Luca produces films on a regular basis. He’s not someone who sits down and develops a film for four years.
mg The studio that has shown real and critical interest is Mobi. After disappointment Death, my loveanother stellar vehicle from an auteur director hitting theaters, the distributor needs to win. Cannes was less crowded this year, as he headed to the festival with Jeanne Schönbrunn Miasma camp And capture Lukas Dont coward. Moby could use the positive PR that might come with rescuing a film from a beloved director after it was abandoned due to the whims of a technical oligarch. After all, it was only a year ago that Mobi was hemorrhaging subscribers due to its investment in Sequoia Capital, which… You have ties to the Israeli army.
With you Then there’s Neon, which has a reputation as a filmmaker first and knows how to draw audiences into theaters for movies they didn’t necessarily know they wanted to see.
mg Besides the politics of it all, one big takeaway here is that movies are loved industrial – Mid-budget adult dramas – Success is difficult to achieve in the current economy of the Hollywood film industry.
With you It’s a volatile trade.
mg Real wobbly.
