Steve Jobs' Widow ‘Repeatedly’ Tried To Block New Movie
Family and colleagues of Steve Jobs repeatedly tried to block the recent biopic movie of the Apple co-founder from being made, according to a new report.
Laurene Powell Jobs is said to have lobbied the film’s producers - Sony, who developed the script, and later Universal, who made the movie - on a number of occasions, and refused to work with Aaron Sorkin, who wrote it, claims producer Scott Rudin.
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- Aaron Sorkin and Apple boss Tim Cook trade barbs
- Movies that caused a diplomatic incident
In an article in the Wall Street Journal, it says that several of those close to Jobs, including his wife, objected to the way he is portrayed in the movie, which paints him as an at times ruthless man who frequently clashed with those around him.
They claim that the movie, and also director Alex Gibney’s documentary ‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine’, make more of Jobs’ failings – it also focuses on his initially disputed paternity of daughter Lisa – than his accomplishments.
The movie, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Michael Fassbender in the lead role, focuses on three key Apple product launches – the Macintosh, the NeXT computer and the iMac – and was in part based on the best-selling biography 'Steve Jobs’, written by Walter Isaacson, the writing of which Jobs cooperated with before his death in 2011.
Sorkin has already traded barbs with current Apple boss Tim Cook over the movie, after Cook called it 'opportunistic’.
“[Jobs] was a joy to work with and I love him dearly, I miss every day,” Cook said in an interview with Stephen Colbert.
“I think that a lot of people are trying to be opportunistic and I hate this. It’s not a great part of our world.”
Sorkin hit back, saying: “Nobody did this movie to get rich.
“Secondly, Tim Cook should really see the movie before he decides what it is.”
“Third, if you’ve got a factory full of children in China assembling phones for 17 cents an hour you’ve got a lot of nerve calling someone else opportunistic.”
He later apologised for the remarks.
But not all Apple folk have opposed the movie, with co-founder Steve Wozniak, played by Seth Rogen in the movie, helping out as a consultant.
The WSJ article says that Wozniak was paid $200,000 for his work on the movie.
He told the BBC earlier this month: “In some prior movies, I saw [the actors] simulating Steve Jobs, but they didn’t really make me feel like I was in his head understanding what was going on inside of him.
“This movie absolutely accomplishes that, and it’s due to great acting, which obviously comes from great directing.
“When you see it portrayed dramatically, not the way it really happened, but in a way that is emotionally graphic, it really conveys what Steve Jobs was really like inside… and what it was like to be around him.”
'Steve Jobs’ is out across the UK on November 13. Check out the trailer below.
Image credits: Universal/The Verge/Yahoo
