Ike Barinholtz nears deal to play Elon Musk in OpenAI film ‘Artificial’

Emmy-nominated actor Ike Barinholtz is reportedly in negotiations to portray Elon Musk in Luca Guadagnino's upcoming film "Artificial", a comedic drama set in the high-stakes world of artificial intelligence (AI).

The film, produced by Amazon MGM Studios,  centres around the 2023 leadership crisis at OpenAI, when CEO Sam Altman was briefly ousted before being reinstated just days later. 

While casting details have not been officially confirmed, Andrew Garfield is expected to play Altman, with Oscar nominee Yura Borisov taking on the role of Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder who was central to Altman's removal.

Barinholtz, known for roles in "The Mindy Project", "The Afterparty", and most recently his Emmy-nominated performance in "The Studio", is poised to bring his comedic edge to the role of tech magnate Musk, who was a co-founder of OpenAI before stepping away from the company.

The screenplay, written by Simon Rich ("An American Pickle"), is being produced by Rich alongside David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford of Heyday Films, and Jennifer Fox.

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"Artificial" continues Guadagnino's partnership with Amazon MGM following films like "Challengers", "Bones and All", and "Suspiria". He is also set to debut "After the Hunt", starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri, at the Venice Film Festival later this year.