This post contains affiliate links and our team will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.
Just a few weeks ago, it sounded like David Fincher and Christian Bale would be teaming up for the first time for the new Steve Jobs biopic, written by The Social Network scribe, Aaron Sorkin. It would be a re-teaming for the director and screenwriter, and it made many fans, myself included, giddy at the thought of those two working together again, and with Christian Bale to boot? It sounded like it had a lot of potential. But last week, Fincher departed the project over an issue with controlling the marketing, and over a dispute on his salary. Sony Pictures, now daunted with the task to replace someone as big as Fincher for the project, has turned to none other than Academy Award winner Danny Boyle, with Leonardo DiCaprio circling the role of Steve Jobs.
THR was the first to report on the possible new team up. As much as the idea of Fincher and Sorkin teaming together again, I find the idea of Boyle and Sorkin working together just as interesting. Boyle is a very visual director, and the idea of him tackling a film like this has me intrigued. His last biopic, 127 Hours, about the rock climber, Aron Ralston, who was forced to sever his own arm off to save his life, starred James Franco, and had a very interesting and unique style. It’s something that Boyle has had since his early work on films like Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, so I’m curious to see how he would handle a film like this. The film is rumored to not be a straight forward biopic, but to be three separate moments in Job’s life, each spanning thirty minutes in real time, right before the launch of three separate Apple products. The first being in 1984, at the launch of the first Macintosh; the second would be in 1988 with the launch of Jobs’ first post-Apple product the NeXT; and finally ending in 2001 for the debut of the iPod. Those reports first surfaced in 2012, so who knows what could change by then.
Of course, the other component of the story is the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio is circling the project to star as Steve Jobs. DiCaprio is a great actor, and one who has been tackling so many great roles the last few years, most recently with his Oscar nominated turn in Wolf of Wall Street. I think DiCaprio is more than capable of turning out a great performance as the late Jobs, and I’m sure it’ll be another Oscar worthy performance. In fact, with Boyle, Sorkin, and DiCaprio all set for the film, this film is definitely one with huge Oscar potential, which I’m sure is what Sony Pictures is hoping for. It’s important to note that no deals are locked in place yet, but it sounds like all parties are hoping to make this a reality sooner rather than later.
What do you think of the idea of Boyle and DiCaprio taking over the Sorkin written project? Will you miss Bale and Fincher, or is this a good fit? Sound off in the comments below.
