Neon to campaign Garfield in supporting, Borisov in lead for Oscars with 'Artificial'

Left · 1Neon will campaign Andrew Garfield in the supporting actor category and Yura Borisov in lead actor for Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI drama "Artificial", Variety reported exclusively as the film had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival. 1 Left · 1Garfield plays Sam Altman, and Borisov plays OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever; Mark Rylance (as Geoffrey Hinton) will join Garfield in the supporting race, and Monica Barbaro (as Mira Murati) will compete for supporting actress. 1 Left · 1The campaign is to extend across all major categories, including best picture, director and acting, with Simon Rich's screenplay competing in original screenplay and every craft department receiving a full campaign. 1

Left · 1Variety noted that Garfield has been the face of the marketing, but that it is not unprecedented for a top-billed star to pursue a supporting nomination, citing Meryl Streep for "Into the Woods" and Catherine Zeta-Jones for "Chicago". 1 Left · 1The film covers the five days in November 2023 when OpenAI's board fired Altman and he was reinstated after more than 700 employees threatened to walk out; it follows Altman and Sutskever over decades. 2 1 Left · 2Garfield is a two-time best actor nominee ("Hacksaw Ridge", "Tick, Tick … Boom!") without a win, and was not nominated for supporting actor for "The Social Network" despite a Golden Globe nomination for playing Eduardo Saverin; both outlets frame an Oscar for "Artificial" as a possible full-circle moment. 3 2

Left · 2Borisov was nominated for "Anora"; Variety's critic argues he deserves a spot in the crowded best actor field, while IndieWire's critic says he is technically the lead but plays too passive a character to compete with the best actor frontrunners. 2 3 Left · 2Amazon MGM dropped the film in June, months after its parent company put $50 billion into OpenAI; Variety's critic calls the move political, while IndieWire says it was debated whether this was a concession to the OpenAI partnership or a judgment that the film is not commercially viable. Neon then picked it up. 2 3 Left · 1IndieWire describes the film as a $40 million bet by Neon that nostalgia for "The Social Network" and Garfield can carry it at the box office, and sees the stronger awards potential in below-the-line work and Rich's screenplay, with Damon Albarn's score and songs a possible shortlist contender. 3

Left · 1After New York the film plays the BFI London Film Festival and opens in select theaters on Christmas Day, with an expansion in January. 2