Sony said lining up $3m movie deal for Steve Jobs biography
updated 07:00 pm EDT, Fri October 7, 2011
Sony wants Jobs bio as movie
A rumor late Friday asserted that Sony Pictures was already negotiating a deal for the movie rights to the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. Sony would pay between $1 million to $3 million just to get access, Deadline understood. The movie would be produced by Mark Gordon and Management 360 under their MG360 partnerhsip.
A tentative completion date hasn't been set and might not necessarily occur. Studios regularly buy movie rights if they're interested in a project but may decide later that it wasn't feasible or are simply waiting for the right combination of director, actors, and script.
Details weren't confirmed, but Gordon would potentially be a strong fit for the role. He recently produced a Richard Pryor biopic, Duncan Jones' well-received Source Code, and The Messenger, along with regularly being a producer and a financial help for blockbuster movies like Saving Private Ryan.
A grab for movie rights may risk criticism given the recentness of Jobs' death and that the book itself won't be published until October 24. It's nonetheless considered one of the hotter biopic projects as the Isaacson biography will be the only one with Jobs' direct consent and input. Pirates of Silicon Valley, based on the non-fiction book Fire in the Valley, is considered true to the spirit of Jobs' life but with a consciously loose approach to accuracy.
Mac Elite
Joined: Jan 2002
A movie about doing what you love...
Considering how he was such a proponent of Apple products, I expect Aaron Sorkin to immediately stop whatever he is doing and write the screenplay. Whether you liked The Social Network or not, the "Two Cathedrals" episode of The West Wing is the best hour of television ever made.