NEW YORK (AP) — “Artificial,” Luca Guadagnino's starry film about Sam Altman and OpenAI, has been acquired by the indie distributor Neon after it was dropped by Amazon MGM Studios.
Neon said Tuesday that it bought the film following a bidding process. Amazon dropped the nearly complete $40 million film, starring Andrew Garfield as Altman, earlier this month, a surprise move that came just months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI.
Amazon said then that “Artificial” would “be better served if it were released by a different studio.”
Neon said Tuesday that it will release “Artificial” this year and “compete in this year's Oscar race.” The film, which chronicles the days leading up to the 2023 firing and reinstatement of Altman as OpenAI chief executive, also stars Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov and Academy Award winner Mark Rylance. Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk.
In late February, Amazon signed an expansive multiyear partnership with the artificial intelligence startup. Then earlier this month, Amazon MGM said it would put the film up for sale to find it a new home.
Neon has established an enviable awards-season track record with Oscar winners like “Parasite” and “Anora.” The specialty label has backed the last seven Palme d'Or winners at the Cannes Film Festival. The studio declined to disclose how much it paid for the worldwide rights to “Artificial.”
“The acquisition underscores Neon’s commitment to partnering with visionary filmmakers, and bringing ambitious cinema to audiences around the world,” the studio said in a statement.
FILE - CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman talks to CEO of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, not seen, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson,File)
Defense attorneys for the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk are suggesting a 2029 trial date because they say it could take them that long to prepare their case.
Attorneys for Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, said Thursday that the defense's proposed schedule was “absurd” and defendant Tyler Robinson was simply trying to delay.
Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf has scheduled a Friday hearing to set a trial date.
Robinson pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in last year's killing of Kirk while the ally of President Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of several thousand people at Utah Valley University. The 23-year-old defendant turned himself in a day after the shooting, and his lawyers have not offered alternative theories for Kirk’s death. He could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors from Utah County in court filings anticipated a 17-week trial and said they would be ready by October 2027. But rather than hold the proceedings during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, they proposed the trial begin Jan. 31, 2028.
Erika Kirk’s attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, said the trial should start next October, the earliest date identified by prosecutors.
“Under the Defendants’ proposed schedule, Mr. Kirk’s two children, who were one and three at the time he was murdered, will be six and eight years old by the time the trial concludes,” Neiman wrote. “They will face the uncertainty of this criminal proceeding longer than they had their father in their lives.”
But Robinson's attorneys said in court filings this week that they must sift through tens of thousands of files turned over by prosecutors.
They said they'll have to conduct extensive investigations into Robinson's life in search of mitigating factors that could influence his sentence if convicted, and must devote “substantial time” to issues such as jury selection.
The defense lawyers said they respected the court's attempt to set a “realistic trial date.” Yet because it's a complex death penalty case, trying to predict when it will be ready for trial “is an exercise that, at this time, will necessarily be infected with false precision,” they wrote in a document filed Wednesday.
FILE - Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, File)
