AaronSorkin
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After Math: Watch out now!
You'd think that the week after CES would bring at least a brief lull in the firehose that is tech news, but you'd be wrong. Google's paying $40 million for Fossil's smartwatch tech; LG's holding a huge sale for last year's most expensive sets ahead of the Super Bowl; and for some reason, Aaron Sorkin doesn't think we've had enough onscreen Zuckerberg (he too is wrong).
Aaron Sorkin says it's time for a 'Social Network' sequel
Aaron Sorkin is ready for a follow-up to his Facebook origin movie, The Social Network. And he's not the only one: the film's producer Scott Rudin has also sounded off on a possible sequel, Sorkin told the Associated Press.
Amazon snags rights to Lucille Ball movie starring Cate Blanchett
Amazon isn't done seeking Hollywood glory just because it has a couple of Oscars under its belt. The internet giant's studio wing has snapped up Luci and Desi, a high-profile biographical flick covering the relationship between I Love Lucy co-creators Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The movie is still very much a work in progress (the role of Desi hasn't even been cast yet), but it already reflects Amazon's award-seeking intentions: Cate Blanchett will star, and The Social Network's Aaron Sorkin wrote the script.
The Steve Jobs movie flopped at the box office
The internet was full of talk about the accuracy of Steve Jobs, but it turned out that the general public just didn't care about the film at all. The Danny Boyle / Aaron Sorkin biopic of the late Apple co-founder went on wide release this weekend, but only made a paltry $7.3 million at the box office. That put it in 7th place, behind films like The Martian, The Last Witch Hunter and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Unfortunately analysts had predicted that it would do double that figure, and it looks like Steve Jobs will struggle to turn a profit.
'Steve Jobs' isn't totally accurate, and that's okay
Steve Jobs isn't your typical biopic. That's something we explored in our interview with its director, Danny Boyle, and writer, Aaron Sorkin. It's more like a play set in three acts, each of which occurs right before a major product debut. And yet, it's hard not to approach it as a biographical film -- Jobs' name is right there in the title; what else would you expect? So, it's not too surprising to see the film being dismissed among some techies because it isn't 100 percent accurate. Jobs didn't really have life-changing conversations with his friends and family before these product announcements! Joanna Hoffman wasn't even working at Apple when he launched the iMac! These are all facts worth bringing up -- but focusing on those inaccuracies also misses the bigger picture.
'Steve Jobs' writer and director on avoiding the typical biopic
Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Sunshine) and Aaron Sorkin's (The Social Network, Moneyball) Steve Jobs is a unique film in many ways, not the least of which is its complete disregard for the tropes of most biographical films. Instead, it's more like a play in three parts, each of which occurs before one of Steve Jobs' infamous product reveals: the Macintosh in 1984; the NeXT computer in 1988; and the iMac in 1998. For a pseudo-follow-up to Sorkin's Oscar-winning Facebook founding story, Steve Jobs basically feels like the complete opposite. We had the chance to sit down with Sorkin and Boyle to discuss how they crafted the film, how Jobs' daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, helped the production and how they dealt with the specter of The Social Network.
Latest 'Steve Jobs' trailer has the energy of 'Trainspotting'
The newest trailer for Danny Boyle's upcoming Steve Jobs biopic is here, and it's sure to get your blood pumping. In fact, it feels reminiscent of Boyle's drug-infused '90s hit, Trainspotting, except this time it's driven by Aaron Sorkin's razor sharp dialog. "We will know soon enough if you're Leonardo da Vinci, or just think you are," Seth Rogen's Steve Wozniak says at one point. While previous trailers were all about setting the mood of the film, this one does a better job of setting up the stakes. We also get a better glimpse of Michael Fassbender as Jobs in several different time periods. Early word on the film out of the Telluride film festival has been incredibly strong, so it looks like we might have another Oscar-worthy tech biopic to look forward to. Steve Jobs hits theaters on October 23.
The first trailer for 'Steve Jobs' is here
Ready for another movie based on Apple's cofounder? Well, this one appears to have a bit more gravitas behind it, and a little less Kutcher: Based on the biography by Walter Isaacson, the screenplay's been written by Aaron Sorkin, and directed by Danny Boyle. The film has already had a difficult time nailing down the actor to play Jobs himself. Michael Fassbender is still playing the titular Apple founder, with Seth Rogen playing Woz and Kate Winslet playing former marketing chief Joanna Hoffman. Break out the emergency black turtleneck and watch how it's shaping up right after the break.
Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs flick gets an April release date
The new film that starts Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs (which is still unfortunately titled jOBS, apparently), has gotten an April release date, according to the Wall Street Journal. The film, directed by Joshua Michael Stern, will premiere at the very end of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah later on this month, but will eventually open for a wider release sometime in April. This is the first of two Steve Jobs movies we're scheduled to see come together in 2013, with the other one currently being written by none other than Aaron Sorkin. That one's a little further behind, so it hasn't even started shooting yet, and we're not even close to a release date for that one. But if the picture of Kutcher as Jobs intrigues you above, you won't have long to wait -- the movie is just a few months away from finding its way to a theater near you.
Here's the first official photo of Ashton Kutcher in 'jOBS'
The organizers of the Sundance Film Festival announced today that director Joshua Michael Stern's independent Steve Jobs biopic, the oddly capitalized jOBS, will premiere on January 27, the final night of this year's festival in Park City, Utah. In making the announcement, Sundance issued the first official publicity photo of actor Ashton Kutcher as the late Apple CEO and co-founder, which you can see above. The shot, modeled after an actual photo, depicts Jobs with long hair and a beard, wearing a long-sleeve button-down and jeans. He's leaning against his work desk in a cubicle that features a rainbow-colored IBM "THINK" poster and an Apple II. Unsurprisingly, Kutcher looks eerily like a young Jobs. You can see a larger version of the photo here. [Via MacRumors]
Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs movie to portray backstage at three Apple Events in real-time
Aaron Sorkin is in the middle of working on his version of a Steve Jobs biopic, and at a meeting called the Hero Summit, he revealed that the screenplay's current form might seem a little strange. The Daily Beast reports that instead of traditionally telling the story of Steve Jobs from the beginning of his life or career, Sorkin plans to focus on three different segments, each about 30 minutes of the film in real time, set backstage at different Apple Events. It's an interesting idea, to be sure. Steve was known for his presentations, and much of his and Apple's story was written at those big announcements, where he revealed products such as the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone. Portraying three events at different points in Steve's life would show both his and the company's growth, and also put him on display when he shined the most and backstage, when he was perhaps the most honest with his co-workers. We'll have to see how this works out. Since the screenplay is still being worked on, the script might change as time goes on or, in the wild world of Hollywood, this version of the movie might never make it to shooting. But it's an interesting idea, and it would give us an unique perspective on Steve Jobs and his legacy. [Via TechCrunch]
Aaron Sorkin discusses making the Jobs biopic
Filmmaker and writer Aaron Sorkin (probably best known for his work on The West Wing, though I really liked his dramacom Sports Night a lot) recently sat down with Walt Mossberg at All Things Digital to have a chat about his work on one of the new Steve Jobs biographical movies coming out. He talked frankly about his current attempts to try and give justice to the life and times of Apple's famous co-founder. Sorkin says, not surprisingly, that trying to live up to expectations on a movie like this will be hard: "This was a little like writing about The Beatles," he says. "There are so many people out there who know so much about him and who revere him, that I just saw a minefield of disappointment." Sorkin says the movie probably won't be a complete account of everything Steve Jobs, just because that's probably not the best way to really tell his story. Rather, "I'll probably identify the point of friction that appeals to me and then approach that." And of course, Sorkin has a little bit of experience writing about innovative tech figures already, having written the very well-done Social Network movie about Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. It's still very early in the process, but Sorkin says that like Zuckerberg, he'll have to see Jobs in a certain light to try and make his story resonate: "I can't judge the character. He has to, for me, be a hero. I have to find the parts of him that are like me. I have to be able to defend this character. With someone like Steve Jobs, to put it as simply as possible, you want to write the character as if they are making the case to God why they should be allowed into heaven." [via Fortune]
Aaron Sorkin talks about future Steve Jobs movie, impact of technology on his writing
You don't have to look far to get a grasp on who Aaron Sorkin is -- he wrote A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Moneyball and The Social Network, for starters -- and he showed up at D10 to talk creative media, how the digital age impacts his writing and his impending movie about late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. While not involving hard technology news, the interview was exceedingly refreshing, and it delved deep into the world of tech as it impacts his upcoming show about a fictional newsroom (The Newsroom on HBO). The highlights included a frank quote that whoever ends up playing Jobs in his movie -- not to be confused with the one already in production with Ashton Kutcher -- will have to be "good, and intelligent." He also confessed to being fully engaged in the "three screens" movement, but wasn't too prideful to admit that he taps into the brain of his 11-year old daughter for lots of technological help. Pretty wild for a guy that many would label "genius." For more from the interview, head on past the break.
Daily Update for May 18, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Woz hired as technical advisor on Jobs biopic
Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter for the Facebook-inspired The Social Network, is working on an adaptation of the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. To help him in this quest, Sorkin has hired Steve Wozniak as a technical advisor, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. Woz will help Sorkin accurately represent Jobs personality and show the technology that drove Steve Jobs's life. Sorkin said he wants to focus on a controversial or difficult time in Jobs's life and won't do a full-life story. He's been busy working on another project and hasn't decided what part of Jobs's life he will cover. Work on the screenplay will begin in earnest over the summer.
Aaron Sorkin to pen Jobs' biopic, Variety reports
Aaron Sorkin, fresh from winning an Oscar for writing "The Social Network," will move from covering Facebook to Apple. Sony has hired Sorkin to turn Walter Isaacson's "Steve Jobs" biography into a feature film, Variety reports. Sony acquired the movie rights to Isaacson's biography a couple weeks before it was released in October. Another Jobs biopic is scheduled to begin filming this month. This film, with the working title "Jobs," stars Ashton Kutcher and covers the years 1971-2000. "Jobs" is slated to be released in the fourth quarter of this year. [Via Mashable]
Aaron Sorkin 'strongly considering' writing the Steve Jobs biopic
Sure, why not? Sony Pictures apparently grabbed the movie rights to Walter Isaacson's recent Steve Jobs biography, and the studio has asked Aaron Sorkin to write the film. Sorkin said this past week in Los Angeles, that sure, he's considering it. "Sony has asked me to write the movie and it's something I'm strongly considering," he said. But that doesn't mean he's agreed just yet: "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." Sorkin, who of course worked on Sports Night, West Wing, and last year's The Social Network, actually seems like a fine fit for a movie about Jobs' life -- not only is he a really smart writer with a great gift for dialogue and a really world-savvy perspective, but he actually knew and was friends with Jobs himself. Sorkin's no stranger to controversy, but it does seem like he would do Jobs' story justice in an entertaining and powerful way. Sony is obviously still very early in the moviemaking process, so no other information about the film has been released yet, but we'll keep an eye out.
Daily Update for October 26, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Aaron Sorkin reportedly considered to write Jobs biopic
You had to see this one coming a mile away after hearing that Sony Pictures obtained the rights to a film version of Steve Jobs's biography. The LA Times reports that Aaron Sorkin, the writer behind the Mark Zuckerberg biopic The Social Network, is reportedly in consideration to write a screenplay based on Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. Sorkin's screenplay for The Social Network won an Academy Award, so he seems an ideal candidate for a film version of Steve Jobs. He has a well-deserved reputation for writing smart dialogue coming from smart characters -- if you've ever bellowed "You can't HANDLE the truth" at one of your friends in a faux-Jack Nicholson drawl, thank Sorkin for his screenplay for A Few Good Men. Condensing Steve Jobs's entire life into a 2.5-hour film is going to be a monumental task no matter who tries to tackle it. Isaacson's biography is richly detailed, and much of that detail is going to wind up on the cutting room floor when translated to film. After having read through Steve Jobs myself, I'll be very interested to see which parts of it end up onscreen.
All seven seasons of The West Wing finally available in HD... but only online
Even though acclaimed TV series The West Wing was shot on film and six of the seven seasons were broadcast in high definition, until now the only way fans could get a copy was in standard definition. Now Warner's announced all seven seasons are available for purchase in high definition on digital distributors including iTunes and Amazon, with a $3/episode, $50/season price tag. After rumors we'd see the series on HD DVD and later Blu-ray it's great to get access to the show's high production values in higher resolution, but sadly we must note that at least on Amazon (we couldn't find any notes on iTunes) it only offers stereo audio -- an unfortunate loss for a series that won multiple awards for its sound production and features 5.1 Dolby Digital surround on DVD. How much that matters is a personal preference, but while Blu-ray quality might not be expected from downloads, it would be nice to at least get everything that's on the DVD with our downloads. Check after the break for a quick behind the scenes clip with Executive Producer Thomas Schlamme.
