It's been a long wait, but Universal have finally finalised their cast for their much-delayed Steve Jobs biopic. After countless drop-outs, the studio confirmed on Wednesday that Michael Fassbender will play the Apple founder, with the X-Men star supported by some big name co-stars.
The film, which will be called Steve Jobs, has already started shooting in San Francisco but Universal have only now confirmed their cast. Alongside Fassbender, The Interview star Seth Rogen will play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Other early Apple employees will include Michael Stuhlbarg as Andy Hertzfeld, Jeff Daniels playing Apple CEO John Sculley, Adam Shapiro as Avie Tevanian, Kate Winslet as a former Mac marketing chief, and Sarah Snook as marketing guru Andrea Cunningham. Aaron Sorkin has written the script, with the talented writer no doubt having some say in the cast, hence the inclusion of his The Newsroom lead Daniels. British filmmaker Danny Boyle is directing the film which is based on the biography by Walter Isaacson.
Michael Fassbender will play Steve Jobs (WENN)
The film will center around three major announcement events in Jobs' life: for the original Mac, for the NEXT cube computer, and for the Apple iMac. SlashFilm report that flashbacks will be incorporated too, to tie in the beginnings of Apple, with some scenes set to be shot at the real Jobs' old home in Los Altos.
Confirmation of Fassbender's casting follows an embarrassing leak during the Sony Pictures hack drama at the end of last year, when Academy Award winner Sorkin blasted the actor, after his attempts to recruit Tom Cruise for the role failed. “I don't know who Michael Fassbender is and the rest of the world isn't going to care,” Sorkin wrote in an exchange with Columbia Pictures chairman Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin. In their chat it was revealed that several huge Hollywood A-listers had been considered for the role, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Cruise. Sorkin did eventually concede according to the leaked emails, admitting that Fassbender is “a great actor whose time has come”. Later he adds: “If the movie's good, he'll be on the cover of everything and get nominated for everything."
Seth Rogen will play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (WENN)
Just weeks before the email leak, Sony pulled out of the project, leaving Universal to step in. There was no official word on why the studio, who bought the rights to Isaacson's book after Jobs' death in 2011, decided to ditch the film but a source said at the time that Boyle needed the film to go into production in January, because he only has a short window before starting work another project, while Sony were keen to push the shoot date back.
The main cause for the delays was the trouble in casting Sorkin and Boyle's dream lead. Christian Bale was confirmed to play Jobs last Autumn, with Sokin gushing of the actor: “We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that's Chris Bale.” Just days later though it was confirmed that Bale had said no, just weeks after DiCaprio turned down the same role over scheduling issues.
If all goes to plan, Steve Jobs will be released in 2016.
