Steve Jobs movie, titled 'jOBS," at Sundance Jan 27, in theaters in April

A new biographical movie on the life of Apple founder Steve Jobs, starring Ashton Kutchner, will have its premiere as the closing night film at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27. It will reportedly have its theatrical release in April. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern and written by Matthew Whitely, the movie also features Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, and Matthew Modine. Titled "jOBS," it depicts Jobs's life from 1971 through 2000, focusing on the major events and individuals that influenced him. According to the synopsis released by the producer and distributor, "jOBS plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs' life. The filmmakers were granted unprecedented access during shooting to the historic garage in Palo Alto, that served as the birthplace to Apple Inc." The movie was shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter and produced by Mark Hulme. 

When it was announced last April that Kutchner would be cast as Jobs, there was a bit of skepticism, given that he's most well known for his roles in the TV sitcoms That 70s Show and Two and a Half Men, as well as for his leading roles in comedy films such as Dude, Where's My Car? But as the image below shows, with the real Steve Jobs on the left and Kutchner on the right, he certainly looks the part. 

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Photos posted by AppleInsider last June show images taken during filming at Steve Jobs's home where the first Apple computer was built.

To confuse matters, yet another Steve Jobs film is in the works, this one by Sony Pictures and based on the biography of Walter Isaacson. Written by Aaron Sorkin, this movie will reportedly feature three 30-minute scenes. Each scene will show Jobs backstage as he prepares for three historic product launches: the Macintosh, the NeXT computer, and the iPod. In addition to adapting the book, Sorkin is reportedly also doing his own research.

Steve Jobs is, of course, a legend -- having transformed the way we live with his technologies: the personal computer with graphical user interface, the iPod, the iTunes Store, the easy-to-use smartphone, and the tablet computer that finally got it right after so many other companies had failed. I hope these movies do justice to his extraordinary contribution.

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Author Details

Jim Karpen's picture

Author Details

Jim Karpen

Jim Karpen holds a Ph.D. in literature and writing, and has a love of gizmos. His doctoral dissertation focused on the revolutionary consequences of digital technologies and anticipated some of the developments taking place in the industry today. Jim has been writing about the Internet and technology since 1994 and has been using Apple's visionary products for decades.