Ondrej Holzman If screenwriter Aaron Sorkin had his way, he would play Steve Jobs in the upcoming Tom Cruise movie. In the end, however, he was unsuccessful with his favorite, and Michael Fassbender will play the legendary co-founder of Apple. Jeff Daniels could appear in the role of John Sculley, one of the other former heads of the California firm.
Casting for the expected film about Steve Jobs, which was written by the successful Aaron Sorkin based on Walter Isaacson's biography, should reach its peak in the coming weeks to conclude the actor's contracts and prepare everything for the spring shooting. There is speculation about the casting of the main roles, and very interesting behind-the-scenes insight was also provided by leaks from the Sony Pictures studio after the hacker attack.
It was Sony that was originally going to make the Steve Jobs movie, and now a conversation between Sorkin and the studio has been released that reveals that there were many complications with casting and Sony eventually had to abandon the project. Several A-list actors were approached for the central role of Jobs, but screenwriter Sorkin wanted only one all along: Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise was supposed to be the ideal Jobs
It was Cruise who, according to Sorkin, was the ideal candidate for the demanding role, because he is "an actor who can really speak" and is "a movie star who playfully controls the scene". But in the end Cruise didn't push Sorkin and when didn't work out nor Christian Bale, director Danny Boyle intervened in the whole matter and stood up for engagement Michael Fassbender.
On the server ArsTechnica with now discovered authentic transcripts of email communications between Sorkin and Amy Pascal, the chairman of Columbia Pictures, under which Sony Pictures falls. "I've just spoken to Danny (Boyle) who's worried about his age but I think I've put the bug in his head and he'll watch some scenes from Heroes and Cowards, where Tom practically auditions for the role of Jobs," explained Sorkin. "They're also worried that it won't be a happy decision because it will be seen as commercial, but I honestly think it will work in our favor in the end."
According to Sorkin, Cruise would surprise many in the role of Jobs. Further, Sorkin wrote in the email that there is no need to look for anyone new for the role of Steve Wozniak, because Seth Rogen is said to be the ideal age for the first part of the film, while Tom would be the ideal age for the third passage. The film is to be divided into three parts, in which the audience will look behind the scenes of three crucial moments in the life of Steve Jobs. "The film is not meant to be completely literal, it is meant to be a painting rather than a photograph."
However, although Sorkin did his best to convince everyone that Tom Cruise was the right one for the lead role, Sony, neither producer Scott Rudin, nor director Boyle ever accepted this option. But when Sony also rejected Christian Bale, who, like Cruise, would have been a star catch, and Boyle decided to go for a film with Michael Fassbender in the lead role, Sony could not find enough funds to finance the project with Fassbender in the role of Jobs.
Even before Christian Bale, Sony should have counted on Leonardo DiCaprio. Once he refused, according to internal documents, the film studio immediately anticipated a quarter drop in revenue from the entire film. In the end, neither DiCaprio nor Bale came out.
Sorkin wanted to replicate the success of The Social Network
In that moment took over the entire Universal project, and Sorkin's initial reaction was blunt: “I have no idea who Michael Fassbender is, and neither will the rest of the world. This is crazy." Eventually, however, Sorkin cooled down and, speaking to Amy Pascal, declared that Fassbender was "a great actor" and "if the movie is good, he'll be on all the covers and going for all the awards."
Leaked documents also revealed that Tobey McGuire or Matthew McConaughey were interested in the role of Steve Jobs, while the role of former Apple boss John Sculley approached Tom Hanks. According to the latest information of the magazine The Wrap however, he would have Sculley portray Jeff Daniels, who worked with both Sorkin and Rudin on the hit TV series The Newsroom, whose third season is currently running on HBO.
So it seems that only the casting of a single role - Steve Wozniak played by Seth Rogan - was not accompanied by significant complications. At first, it was not even clear who would direct the entire film. Sorkin strongly wanted David Fincher because he wanted to build on the great success of the film The Social Network, where they both worked together. Sorkin wanted to renew the successful collaboration so much that he was even willing to lower his fee, but Fincher eventually backed out due to a five million dollar difference in the budget.
Leaked communications and other reports make it clear that the (still untitled) Steve Jobs movie has been, and continues to be, in major trouble before it even started filming. Although not all roles have been confirmed yet, filming should begin next spring. She last appeared in the film as Joanna Hoffman, a member of the team that created the original Macintosh. refuse Natalie Portman.
that movie will be a terrible flop. Not because there was a bad model, but because they were rejected by actors who really suited it. Now they just pick from the "leftovers" :/
The actors probably knew why they refused - they probably read the script...
Tom Cruise…. Apart from "Top Gun" and "Mission Impossible" he doesn't have a single good movie...