You are Sony Pictures. You’re planning a film about a legend in the technology industry, a man who was a benevolent god to some and a bête noire to others. You already have Scott Rudin aboard to produce. So what’s the missing piece of the puzzle? Why, Social Network scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin, of course!
Since he was first approached in November, Sorkin has spent the time umming, ahhing and being busy crafting new HBO drama The Newsroom. But now he's finally given in to the studio’s romantic overtures and will adapt Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs for the big screen. Sony apparently splashed out $1 million for the rights to the bestseller, which is based on interviews with the man himself and others and covers most of his life. There’s no word on what chunk Sorkin will focus on, but more importantly, we wonder what this will mean for Joshua Michael Stern’s Jobs. Stern already has Ashton Kutcher attached to star as the young Steve and a good head start on Sony’s project. But you’ve got to think he’ll be looking over his shoulder at the behemoth headed his way.
“Steve Jobs’ story is unique: he was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time but of all time,” Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal said in a statement picked up by The Hollywood Reporter. “There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining and polarizing."
Now we wonder who will be hired to direct the thing…. And who do you think Sony will hire as Jobs? Guesses below and on the tweet-stream, folks!