Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov and Luca Guadagnino led the Artificial premiere at Alice Tully Hall, with Neon’s Tom Quinn right beside them.
The Artificial premiere doubled as the opening night of an awards campaign. When Luca Guadagnino‘s OpenAI drama had its world premiere at the 64th New York Film Festival on Monday, Neon co-founder and CEO Tom Quinn walked the Alice Tully Hall carpet with Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov, Ike Barinholtz and the director, a lineup that tells you how seriously the studio behind Parasite and Anora is taking its Christmas Day release.
That confidence looks earned. The first reactions out of the screening called Garfield’s Sam Altman terrifying and seductive, and our Artificial review calls it the most frightening performance of the year.
Who Walked the Artificial Premiere Carpet
Garfield, who plays Altman, posed alongside Borisov, cast as OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, and Barinholtz, who plays Elon Musk. Jason Schwartzman and Billie Lourd joined from the ensemble, along with Cooper Hoffman, who plays Greg Brockman, Nicholas Hamilton, Will Angus and Will Price.
Behind the camera, the turnout was just as strong. Screenwriter Simon Rich, the former Saturday Night Live writer, attended with producers David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford of Heyday Films and Jennifer Fox Heyman is the producer behind the Harry Potter films and Barbie. Damon Albarn, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman who wrote the film’s score, also walked the carpet before Guadagnino introduced the film onstage for a Q&A.
Jason Schwartzman
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Ike Barinholtz
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Andrew Garfield
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Will Price
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Nicholas Hamilton
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Nicholas Hamilton
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Yura Borisov
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Luca Guadagnino and Billie Lourd
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Jason Schwartzman
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
(L-R) Tom Quinn, Yura Borisov, Luca Guadagnino, Andrew Garfield and Ike Barinholtz
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Jennifer Fox, Luca Guadagnino, David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
(L-R) Tom Quinn, Yura Borisov, Luca Guadagnino, Andrew Garfield and Ike Barinholtz
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
(L-R) Tom Quinn, Yura Borisov, Luca Guadagnino, Andrew Garfield and Ike Barinholtz
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Billie Lourd
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Jason Schwartzman
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Luca Guadagnino and Tom Quinn
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Jennifer Fox, Luca Guadagnino, David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Will Angus
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
(L-R) Matte Kranz, Will Angus, Nicholas Hamilton and Cooper Hoffman
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Harper Heyman (L) and David Heyman (C)
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Damon Albarn
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Matte Kranz
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Simon Rich
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Luca Guadagnino
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Jennifer Fox and Jeffrey Clifford
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Luca Guadagnino
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Luca Guadagnino
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
Billie Lourd, Damon Albarn, Yura Borisov, Luca Guadagnino, Andrew Garfield, Ike Barinholtz, Will Angus and Will Price
Artificial Premiere – 64th New York Film Festival
The Filmmakers and the Festival
The New York Film Festival is not where most Christmas releases launch. According to Deadline, the original plan was to skip the festival circuit entirely, which makes the world premiere a coup for Film at Lincoln Center. It is one of the biggest gets in a lineup we broke down in our NYFF64 guide. For Neon, a New York launch puts the film in front of the critics and awards voters who matter most, ten weeks before it opens.
The film is a long way from where it started. When we first saw the Artificial trailer in September, the question was whether a movie about a boardroom crisis could feel cinematic. After Monday night at Alice Tully Hall, that question looks settled.
Artificial opens in U.S. theaters on Dec. 25 and in the U.K. on Jan. 22, 2027. Scroll through the gallery for the best looks from the carpet.
