Aaron Sorkin on Jobs Biopic: Casting Announcement Imminent, 'Heroine' Will Be Daughter Lisa

[MacRumors]

In a new interview with The Independent, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin shares a few more details regarding his upcoming movie about Steve Jobs, noting that while there is no word on who will play the leading role yet, an announcement is imminent.

Leonardo DiCaprio and, more recently, Christian Bale, pulled out, the latter because of the sheer demands of the role: "It's a 181-page script, about 100 of it is that one character," says Sorkin. The frontrunner is now believed to be Michael Fassbender. Sorkin, today, can confirm only that an announcement is imminent.

As previously shared by Sorkin, the film will focus on three 30-minute scenes showing Jobs backstage before the announcement of the Mac, NeXT, and the iPod.

Sorkin also reveals in the new interview that the character of Jobs' daughter Lisa will play a major role as the "heroine" of the film. Lisa Brennan-Jobs had declined to contribute to Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of her father while he was alive, but has worked with Sorkin on the screenplay for the film.

"in the case of Steve Jobs, it's the relationships he had - particularly with his daughter, Lisa - that drew me to it," he says. Jobs initially denied paternity of his daughter, now 36, though they later reconnected and she lived with him in her teens. "She didn't participate in Walter Isaacson's book, because her father was alive at the time, and she didn't want to alienate either of her parents, so I was very grateful that she was willing to spend time with me," says Sorkin. "She is the heroine of the movie."

Sorkin's Jobs film does not yet have a release date, but with Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle on board and casting starting to firm up, things are clearly moving forward.

Article Link: Aaron Sorkin on Jobs Biopic: Casting Announcement Imminent, 'Heroine' Will Be Daughter Lisa

 

[NachoGrande]

please make it stop....

 

[roland.g]

It's a shame about Bale backing out. I think he had the most upside. He is such a terrific character actor and his immersion in roles is uncanny.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Im not feeling it.

How can an appropriate macro thesis be extrapolated from such a limited scope of Steve's life?

 

[Zaqfalcon]

Sounds dull.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

Based on the quotes in the story, it seems like the character of Lisa isn't so much the heroine in the actual movie, but that the person, Lisa Jobs played a major role in getting the production of the film headed in a good direction.

I was worried for a moment.

You know, for as much flak as the Ashton Kutcher version Steve's story gets here on MacRumors, I actually enjoyed the film. I own the Issacson biography and found the movie to be very entertaining.

I love Sorkin's work (especially Sports Night and The Newsroom) and hope that it will focus more on accuracy and entertainment and not too much on pithy dialogue. I am a little worried about it "Only revolving around the three events", but I bet Sorkin will pull off something just as entertaining.

What's the over/under on how many moving Steadicam shots the film uses?

 

[furi0usbee]

Sorkin also reveals in the new interview that the character of Jobs' daughter Lisa will play a major role as the "heroine" of the film.

So in "real life" Lisa played almost no role in Jobs' life during his/Apple's formative years, aside from the fact he name a failed computer after her. So she is going to play a major role in shaping Jobs' life in the movie?

 

[clayj]

Pass.

The only thing I'll be interested in concerning this movie is how many lines of dialogue Sorkin cribs from his previous work on "The West Wing", "Sports Night", "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", "A Few Good Men", "The Social Network", etc. He never met a more plagiarism-worthy writer than himself.

 

[7thson]

The more they talk up/hype this movie, the less interesting it becomes. Enough with the minute to minute updates. Just make the movie and we will let you know if we like it.

 

[proline]

Im not feeling it.

How can an appropriate macro thesis be extrapolated from such a limited scope of Steve's life?

Exactly. The real Steve was able to succeed by ignoring Lisa entirely during key periods such as the development of the Mac. Steve's work was absolutely the focus of his life, and you can't do justice to his work by making it about a bit player that he didn't speak to for years at a time.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Based on the quotes in the story, it seems like the character of Lisa isn't so much the heroine in the actual movie, but that the person, Lisa Jobs played a major role in getting the production of the film headed in a good direction.

I was worried for a moment.

You know, for as much flak as the Ashton Kutcher version Steve's story gets here on MacRumors, I actually enjoyed the film. I own the Issacson biography and found the movie to be very entertaining.

I love Sorkin's work (especially Sports Night and The Newsroom) and hope that it will focus more on accuracy and entertainment and not too much on pithy dialogue. I am a little worried about it "Only revolving around the three events", but I bet Sorkin will pull off something just as entertaining.

What's the over/under on how many moving Steadicam shots the film uses?

It will be 80% steadicam shots of Steve running around giving orders.

Pass.

The only thing I'll be interested in concerning this movie is how many lines of dialogue Sorkin cribs from his previous work on "The West Wing", "Sports Night", "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", "A Few Good Men", "The Social Network", etc. He never met a more plagiarism-worthy writer than himself.

Plagiarism?

What are you talking about? Why would he steal exact lines from previous works as opposed to making a new story?

Maybe the scenes will be zippy and fast paced like before but why actual words?

 

[mozumder]

sounds exciting.

Introduction of characters - Mac
Introduction of conflict - NeXT
Resolution of conflict - iPod

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Exactly. The real Steve was able to succeed by ignoring Lisa entirely during key periods such as the development of the Mac. Steve's work was absolutely the focus of his life, and you can't do justice to his work by making it about a bit player that he didn't speak to for years at a time.

Well the idea is that by exploring that relationship and the way he acted towards her, we understand his life better.

Its always about relationships, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Lost relationships, and the journeys of our lives, but the problem is that, his story, is about so many more interrelated things than that.

 

[Rogifan]

Is anyone actually interested in this?

 

[Naimfan]

Let me know when the movie is actually out . . .

 

[X-X]

The only thing I'll be interested in concerning this movie is how many lines of dialogue Sorkin cribs from his previous work

Remember Steve Jobs' famous commencement speech?

"Stay hungry, stay foolish"

Aaron Sorkin actually wrote parts of that speech. Steve Jobs called him and asked him to help with the writing.

 

[Menopause]

What's that? Movie makers are still trying to cash in on Steve Jobs' death? Give it up you dumb, unimaginative, talentless losers, just give it up.

 

[ginkobiloba]

So, this turns out for the better. While Fassbender bears no ressemblance to Jobs , unlike Bale, he s a MUCH better actor than Bale.

And for all the recurrent "is anyone interested in this ?" comments, i heard they made a film about a little known guy with a little known actor staring mostly at computer screens during the whole movie. I think it was about... Myspace... No wait , Facebook maybe. Nah, who wants to see a film about Facebook ?

 

[steve333]

What a strange premise for an entire movie.
Jobs had an interesting life and upbringing, why not focus on the whole story?

----------

So, this turns out for the better. While Fassbender bears no ressemblance to Jobs , unlike Bale, he s a MUCH better actor than Bale.

And for all the recurrent "is anyone interested in this ?" comments, i heard they made a film about a little known guy with a little known actor staring mostly at computer screens during the whole movie. I think it was about... Myspace... No wait , Facebook maybe. Nah, who wants to see a film about Facebook ?

If it focused on 1 1/2 hours of Zuckerberg's life I don't think it would have been quite as popular

 

[Chupa Chupa]

OK, so this isn't going to be a real Jobs biopic, but rather a docudrama? Job's daughter Lisa is one element of the bigger Jobs picture, but this film sounds more like its about her. I'm not interested in her story except as a subplot to Job's and how his relationship, or lack thereof, may have influenced him. There are no hero or heroines in this tale, just a lot of tragic figures that greatly influenced modern life.

 

[rwilliams]

This whole project sounds so very boring.

 

[Thunderbird]

Michael Fassbender? uh, no thanks.

Whatever shred of interest I had in this movie is now entirely gone.

 

[charlituna]

Sounds dull.

Focusing on three business moments and his daughter sounds like a hot mess.

 

[proline]

Well the idea is that by exploring that relationship and the way he acted towards her, we understand his life better.

Its always about relationships, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Lost relationships, and the journeys of our lives, but the problem is that, his story, is about so many more interrelated things than that.

Exactly my point. His life can't be looked at through the lens of any one relationship, and even if it could Lisa wouldn't be the one. It is very difficult to see how Lisa really influenced his professional life since she wasn't there for any of the key moments. Now did regrets about Lisa influence Steve's decisions to try again and have a second family? Perhaps, but even they were secondary to his work. Did having Lisa around during the NeXT/Pixar years help Steve to mellow out? Sure, but so did the failure of being fired from Apple, the failure of NeXT to become a successful company, and the many other people he spent time with during that time period.

Now it's a great cliche that one should always put one's family first. If this movie were to really delve into that it might still have some redeeming value- are there circumstances where one should sacrifice one's family for the good of the future? Is running an electronics company one of those times? As it stands now however, there is no indication this movie will have any real depth, its three-act structure centered around product launches will clash with any attempt to discuss broader themes, the writer has shown no ability to rise above a lot of the crap that's out there about Jobs including Walter Isaacson's bio where he didn't ask Jobs any tough questions, and no actor who's anyone will touch this with a ten-foot pole.

 

[charlituna]

And for all the recurrent "is anyone interested in this ?" comments, i heard they made a film about a little known guy with a little known actor staring mostly at computer screens during the whole movie. I think it was about... Myspace... No wait , Facebook maybe. Nah, who wants to see a film about Facebook ?

And a lot of folks panned it as boring.