Danny Boyle, director of “127 Hours,” “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” among others, is in talks to direct the Aaron Sorkin-written Steve Jobs biopic, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In 2009, Boyle won an Oscar for his direction of “Slumdog,” and the movie also received Best Picture honors. With a script with a pedigree as prestigious as Sorkin’s — the writer struck gold with both “The Social Network” and “Moneyball” in recent years, not to mention his incredibly successful run with television’s “The West Wing” — chances are the movie already had the interest of Academy members before the ink was even dry.
David Fincher, director of “The Social Network,” had previously been named by Sony to helm the project, but the deal recently fell apart, reportedly due to compensation demands.
Here’s what’s even more Oscar-baity than the Oscar-bait combo of Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle: Throwing Leonardo DiCaprio into the mix. THR reported that one of Hollywood’s most admired leading men is being eyed to play Jobs, the Apple Computers co-founder and innovator who passed away in 2011.
Inevitably, the eventual movie will be endlessly compared to 2013’s Ashton Kutcher-led “Jobs,” which grabbed only $16.1 million at the box office and garnered a disappointing 27 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. When it comes to a satisfying portrayal of the computer genius’ life, maybe Sorkin, Boyle and DiCaprio are just the men for the job(s).
As Steve himself would say, here’s to the crazy ones — especially if it means more screen time for DiCaprio.
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