Earlier this month, we learnt that Ashton Kutcher had been picked to play the legendary Steve Jobs in a biopic chronicling the Apple founder’s early life. Other than the name of the movie, and the somewhat ‘interesting’ casting choice, and the fact that Joshua Michael Stern will direct while Matt Whiteley will pen the script, there wasn’t much news regarding the project. Now producer Mark Hulme has revealed a bit more about it.
During an interview with Neowin (via /Film), Hulme revealed that Jobs will primarily focus on the early years of Apple, “its founding and the up and down years: 1971-2000.” They’re pulling from a variety of sources for their research, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, former Apple CEOs John Skully and Mike Markkula, and early Apple employee Daniel Kottke are all characters that will factor into the movie.
Hulme also took the opportunity to defend their decision to cast Kutcher. He says, “Since our film covers the early years of Apple, when Jobs was in his 20′s, we needed an actor who could carry not only the youthfulness of Jobs at the time but also the psychological complexity. Because of that, and Ashton’s physical similarities to Jobs, he’s perfect for our film… When Ashton read the script he was immediately attracted to the project. He is a Steve Jobs and Apple fan, and is technologically savvy, as well, so he recognized the historical importance of Steve Jobs and the potential of the project. He is very excited to have the role.”
No news yet on a release date, but the plan is to release it sometime later this year, and distribution deals are currently in the works. I’m still not convinced about Kutcher playing Jobs, but I’d love nothing more than to be pleasantly surprised by a wonderful performance.
