Sony reportedly taps Leo DiCaprio, director Danny Boyle for Sorkin’s Jobs movie

Apr 22, 2014 09:12 GMT  ·  By

Sony continues to scour Hollywood for a director+actor duo to kickstart the ambitious Steve Jobs movie penned by Aaron Sorkin. According to reports, the studio is now eyeing Leo DiCaprio for the leading role and Danny Boyle as the director.

Having directed Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle could be the perfect match for Sorkin’s three 30-minute product-launch scenes comprising the upcoming Jobs movie which the playwright insists is not a biopic.

Speaking of his take on the late Apple CEO at the Tribeca Film Festival, Sorkin said this was “one of the very few times I ended up writing what I set out to write.” He added, “It’s not a biopic; it’s not the story of Steve Jobs — it’s something much different than that.  He’s a fascinating guy — part hero, part antihero.”

Asked about the rumors regarding Sony’s interest in Boyle and DiCaprio, Sorkin said, “I don’t want to say that much tonight. I don’t want to make any news or make anyone feel like I approached the movie in a different way.”

“I’m going to make the movie speak for itself. But he’s a fascinating guy surrounded by fascinating people, and he had very interesting relationships with the people in his life,” Sorkin reiterated.

Sony is known to have considered Christian Bale as the leading man in the Sorkin-penned Jobs movie and David Fincher as the director. According to reports, Fincher was asking for too much money, while Bale would only be cast in the role if Fincher got the gig.

Two years ago, when Sony spilled the beans about its plans to make a biopic profiling the life of Apple’s iconic co-founder, the studio was said to be considering George Clooney for the main role.

Unlike the JOBS biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, Sorkin has something completely different planned for his film. As noted above, the movie will be made from three sequences, each focusing on key product launches, including the NeXT computer, the iPod, and the very first Mac.

Strangely, the iPhone doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the storyline, but all that could change before Sorkin puts the finishing touches on the script and the director makes his final cut.

Ashton Kutcher’s JOBS launched to mostly negative reviews and drew in very little money. Sony’s film is expected to do much better, mainly because of the weight of the studio making it, along with the sheer number of talents working on the project.