In a press release today, Open Road Films has announced that they have acquired the Steve Jobs biopic ‘jOBS’ starring Ashton Kutcher as the Apple founder.
The announcement of Kutcher taking on the role last April has procured a great amount of interest in the film, especially in the last few months. Although ‘jOBS’ is set to premiere on the closing night of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 27th, this deal essentially takes the film off the table for any other studios to bid on.
Directed by Joshua Michael Stern and written by Matthew Whitely, ‘jOBS’ details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2000. According to the press release, ‘ jOBS’ “plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life. The filmmakers were granted unprecedented access during shooting to the historic garage in Palo Alto, that served as the birthplace to Apple Inc.”
Mark Hulme of Five Star Feature Film said of the acquision, “We set out to find the perfect partners to present ‘jOBS’ to audiences worldwide, and we feel we have found one with Open Road. They were as impressed as we were with Ashton Kutcher’s inspiring and unforgettable performance as Steve Jobs and are excited to distribute the picture in the U.S.”
‘jOBS’ is not the only biopic about the Apple founder that is being made. Sony has one in the works but so far they only have a script in place that was written by Aaron Sorkin. No director or star has yet been attached to the project.
Having Kutcher play Jobs may seem like an odd choice and one that many people are reluctant to accept. After all, who would think that the person who starred in ‘That 70’s Show’, ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’ and currently ‘Two and a Half Men’ could star in a drama about the trials of creating the Apple company? Before you toss your head in disbelief, however, remember that Keanu Reeves did star in ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ before getting a chance to play the action hero Johnny Utah in ‘Point Break.’ Now look where he is now!
How this film will portray Jobs will be an interesting see. The 1999 telepic ‘Pirates of Silicon Valley’ didn’t paint a very favorable picture of the man who was then played by Noah Wylie (‘Falling Skies’, ‘ER’). I guess we’ll find out when the reviews come out from Sundance later this month!
‘jOBS’ stars Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons and Matthew Modine and is slated to play in theaters sometime in April.
