14 DAY TRIAL // After a series of leaked on-set photos, we finally get the first, nearly-official look at Michael Fassbender in character as the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, in the upcoming biopic from director Danny Boyle. A poster from the film has emerged online and is causing serious waves among fans because Fassbender looks nothing like Jobs.
You can see the poster above, and a comparison shot in the gallery: the poster is a recreation of an ad Jobs did for NeXT Computers, which he founded after leaving Apple in 1985.
“Steve Jobs” doesn’t look like Steve Jobs
The image was first posted to Instagram and was then picked up by Reddit, where it sparked a huge conversation / debate on whether this biopic too will be as big a flop as “JOBS” was, with Ashton Kutcher as lead.
The fact that “Steve Jobs” looks nothing like Steve Jobs is considered by many an argument in favor of saying that, yes, this movie will flop too. That the project took for ever to finally go into production, moving from Sony Pictures to Universal and going through all directors and actors in Hollywood before settling on the current team, is another.
However, we should probably not focus too much on the first aspect: this is a biopic, not a documentary. It’s ridiculous to expect an actor to look exactly like the real-life person they’re portraying in a biopic, just like it’s ridiculous to expect the film to be “true” to nature. Cinematography is storytelling, and as such, it has to deliver a compelling story, which often means fictionalizing true events.
Secondly, consider the talent: Michael Fassbender is one of the greatest actors of the younger generation. Kate Winslet and Jeff Daniels appear in supporting roles, as also does Seth Rogen. Danny Boyle, one of the best British directors working in film right now, is at the helm. Aaron Sorkin wrote the script.
There is no bigger promise for a solid release than what we listed in the paragraph above.
A problematic project
“Steve Jobs” is now shooting and will be released in October this year. Unlike with “JOBS,” there is considerably buzz online about it, but mostly because everyone involved is struggling to keep a low profile.
If there was a lesson to learn from “JOBS,” it’s that too much buzz leads to higher expectations, which make the sense of disappointment in the final product even more bitter.
However, that’s not to say that production on this movie was smooth sailing. On the contrary: the film spent years in production limbo, with big players struggling to align the stars in such a way as to make it a huge hit.
When Sony lost it to Universal, it must have been with a sigh of relief, because by then, Sorkin was already furious with them for not putting it high on their priorities list, while they were yet to find an actor to play Jobs. They even considered Leonardo DiCaprio at one point, which, fans say, really made no sense.
The movie moved to Universal, and Sorkin picked Danny Boyle as director, who in turn, demanded that they get him Fassbender for the role. If you’ve seen “Shame” or “Hunger,” you know Fassbender’s acting range (and not only). He might not look the part of Steve Jobs, but there’s no doubt he can deliver an amazing performance.
#michaelfassbender A photo posted by @seannung on Mar 16, 2015 at 4:29pm PDT
