Having written about the realms of US politics (The American President, the frankly peerless West Wing) and then TV production (Studio 60), Aaron Sorkin, who for my money is as gifted and talented a writer as there is out there, now seems to be setting his sights on the various icons of the IT world. After his deserved Oscar® win for The Social Network and its formidable dissection of the somewhat enigmatic Mark Zuckerberg, Sorkin may now be setting his sights on Steve Jobs, the recently deceased head of Apple.
In an interview with E! Online, Sorkin was enthusiastic if a little non-committal:-
“Sony has asked me to write the movie and it’s something I’m strongly considering. Right now I’m just in the thinking-about-it stages, it’s a really big movie and it’s going to be a great movie no matter who writes it.”
Sony reportedly bought up the rights to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs for a cool $1m, amidst the general and seemingly globe-spanning swell of interest in Jobs following his tragic death earlier this year. That biography shifted close to 400,000 copies in its first week and Sorkin is said to be reading it at the moment while he considers Sony’s invitation to write the script for the film adaptation.
Apparently, The Hollywood Reporter asked veteran casting director Sharon Bialy who might be a good fit for Jobs in a film of his life. Her suggestions were Ashton Kutcher, Andrew Garfield or Shia LeBeouf for the younger years and Keanu Reeves, Ralph Fiennes or Noah Wyle for the older Job. Heaven help us. Ashton Kutcher and Keanu Reeves? Why not Seann William Scott and Jack Black? Garfield and Fiennes seem altogether more fitting, but what do I know? Let’s go with good actors rather than getting hung up on physical resemblance.
Once Sorkin has made his mind up, we’ll let you know.
