Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming movie Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association (MPA). This is a big change for Guadagnino, as most of his major movies have received R ratings for almost 20 years.
According to the MPA’s official ratings database, Artificial is rated PG-13 because of “some strong language.” The movie received certificate No. 56081 in 2026.
Artificial Ends Guadagnino’s Long R-Rated Run
The PG-13 rating is significant because Guadagnino has not had a feature receive anything below an R rating since I Am Love in 2009. That film was followed by R-rated releases including A Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name, Suspiria, Bones and All, Challengers, Queer, and After the Hunt.
Guadagnino’s first two features, The Protagonists and Melissa P., were not assigned an MPA rating, making Artificial the first film in his feature directing career since 2009 to receive a PG-13 classification.
The change does not necessarily mean the filmmaker has abandoned the mature themes associated with his recent work. Instead, the rating appears to reflect the material in Artificial, which focuses primarily on corporate conflict, technology and the turbulent events surrounding Sam Altman’s brief removal from OpenAI.
Andrew Garfield Plays Sam Altman in the OpenAI Drama
Written by Simon Rich, Artificial dramatizes the extraordinary events of November 2023, when Altman was removed as OpenAI’s CEO before returning to the position only days later.
Garfield leads an ensemble that includes Monica Barbaro as Mira Murati, Yura Borisov as Ilya Sutskever, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, and Mark Rylance.
The project also reunites Garfield with Guadagnino following their work together on After the Hunt. Guadagnino directed and co-produced Artificial, while David Heyman, Jeffrey Clifford, Jennifer Fox and Rich are among the producers. Damon Albarn is credited with the film’s music.
The Movie’s Release Faced a Major Setback
The rating arrives after Artificial went through an unusual distribution shake-up. Amazon MGM Studios originally backed the film but dropped it in June 2026 after Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI that included a planned $50 billion investment.
Amazon said the movie would be “better served if it were released by a different studio” and said it was working with the filmmakers to find a new home.
Neon subsequently acquired Artificial for worldwide theatrical distribution. The studio also announced that the movie would compete in the Oscar race, giving the Andrew Garfield-led project a new path toward release after the Amazon decision.
