There's more trouble for the Steve Jobs biopic which Danny Boyle is hoping to bring to the big screen, with confirmation today that Sony Pictures has dropped the movie.
The Hollywood Reporter have confirmed that the studio will no longer be making the film, which is based on Walter Isaacson's biography of the Apple founder. Instead the yet-to-be-shot movie is up for grabs, with Universal said to be interested in taking it on in the hopes it could be a big contender for the 2016 awards season.
There's no official word on why Sony, who bought the rights to the book after Jobs' death in 2011, decided to ditch the film but a source has said that director Danny Boyle needed the film to go into production in January, because he only has a short window before starting work another project. Sony though wanted to shoot later in 2015 as they were already pretty busy in the early months.
Christian Bale has already pulled out of the biopic (WENN/Splash News)
It's not looking great for the film which has seen a long list of major players wave goodbye in recent months. The film has struggled to cast its leading man with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale pulling out. Last month the movie's screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, was gushing about how Christian was perfect for the role, telling Bloomberg Television “We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that's Chris Bale.” Just days later though it was confirmed that Bale had said no, just weeks after Leo turned down the same role over scheduling issues.
The latest Hollywood star in the frame to play Jobs is Michael Fassbender who is said to be in early talks for the role with Boyle and Sorkin. If they want him, the team need to move quickly though as the actor is already tied to X-Men: Apocalypse which will shoot in the spring.
And Sorkin isn't exactly selling the Jobs role as an easy one, telling Bloomberg that the chosen actor will have "more words to say in this movie than most people have in three movies combined. There isn't a scene or a frame that he's not in. So it's an extremely difficult part." He might need to work on his pitching technique.
Michael Fassbender is the latest actor linked to the lead role (WENN)
There's also been dropouts in the director's chair with Gone Girl's David Fincher thought to have initially signed on to helm the biopic, before he allegedly pulled out in April due to compensation and control issues.
There are some talented members of the team left though with Boyle and Sorkin both Oscar winners thanks to the smash Slumdog Millionaire and Sorkin's screenplay for The Social Network, another real-life to big screen tale, which shined a light on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Then there's the rumoured supporting cast with Seth Rogen said to be the frontrunner to play Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak while Boyle is said to be keen to meet with the talented Jessica Chastain for the female lead.
So there is hope for Jobs, just not much time...
