Snapshot · The Rest Is Entertainment
Marina Hyde highlighted that The Apprentice — a well-regarded biopic of young Donald Trump — found distribution extremely difficult despite obvious awards potential, as a parallel to the Artificial situation.
Where this was said
At 10:22 · chapter starts 3:40
The conversation begins with Marina Hyde delivering a brisk character sketch of Sam Altman — 'the cold dead eyes of the boyfriend who joins in the search for the missing girlfriend' — before laying out the background: OpenAI began as a not-for-profit idealistic venture, but by Trump's second inauguration, Altman was seated in oligarchs' row, and OpenAI had become, in Hyde's words, 'a rapacious capitalist entity' that even Anthropic refused to partner with on defense contracts [1] — Marina Hyde "Amazon has dropped Luca Guadagnino's nearly-finished film Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman, reportedly because Amazon is …" 03:13 . The film Artificial, directed by Guadagnino, is based on the five extraordinary days in 2023 when Altman was ousted from OpenAI and then reinstated — a natural dramatic spine, with a stellar cast including Andrew Garfield as Altman and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk. Amazon financed it to near-completion at a cost of around $40 million, but then pulled out, claiming it might be 'better suited to another distributor.' Richard Osman explains the financial logic: at the point of release, Amazon would have been on the hook for another $40 million in marketing, while also having to promote the film using their own platform — a platform increasingly entangled with OpenAI to the tune of $50 billion [2] — Marina Hyde "He has the cold dead eyes of the boyfriend who joins in the search for the missing girlfriend, in my view." 04:43 . People who've seen early drafts report the Altman portrayal as 'intensely manipulative, a schemer, a power hoarder, a monomaniac', with Satya Nadella among the walk-on characters. The conversation draws a clear parallel with The Apprentice, the Trump biopic that also struggled to find a distributor despite clear awards potential, as an earlier symptom of the same pattern.
Marina Hyde noted that OpenAI began as a not-for-profit, idealistic enterprise, with Sam Altman in 2016 describing Trump as chilling — a stark contrast to his later position in oligarchs' row at Trump's inauguration.
The Luca Guadagnino film Artificial, which Amazon dropped before release, reportedly cost around $40 million to produce.
Amazon is investing approximately $50 billion in OpenAI, creating a conflict of interest that likely explains why they dropped the Luca Guadagnino film about Sam Altman.
Richard Osman pointed out that Amazon would have faced a total outlay of around $80 million — $40M production plus $40M marketing — had they proceeded with Artificial.
Richard Osman makes a measured counterpoint: Amazon releasing the film to another distributor is actually less sinister than if they'd simply buried it and withheld rights. The problem is the pattern — the fact that the industry now structurally avoids these projects before they even begin.
Robby's wife Gabby Windey was the Bachelorette on the TV show, meaning she had 25 male contestants, before eventually coming out and marrying Robby.
Jimmy Tatro noted that The Hawk on Netflix is Will Ferrell's first TV series where he is the lead, despite Ferrell's long movie career.
Jimmy Tatro revealed The Hawk is his fifth time working with Will Ferrell, having gone straight from a movie with Ferrell's team into the series.
Reacher Season 2 attracted 56 million global viewers in a single week, making it one of the most-watched streaming shows in Amazon Prime Video history.
Motor City is a film with zero spoken dialogue, originally conceived by then-Warner Bros. president Greg Silverman so that global audiences could share the same experience without language barriers.
The Motor City script appeared on Hollywood's prestigious Blacklist of best unproduced screenplays as early as 2009 and was greenlit nine times with different directors before finally being made.
Alan Ritchson turned down the role of Hawk on Titans five times before finally accepting, having convinced himself he was destined for Shazam — which he ultimately did not get.
Alan Ritchson's failed Thor audition was so poor the casting director broke protocol to call his team and say he didn't have the craft — a moment Ritchson describes as the career-defining crossroads that sent him to acting school.
Camila Mendes shot Riverdale for 7 consecutive years, 10 months per year, with only 2-month gaps between seasons, leaving no time to stop or rest.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.