David Fincher in talks to direct Aaron Sorkin-penned Steve Jobs biopic

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Having just wrapped the adaptation of Gillian Flynn's GONE GIRL, director David Fincher is now weighing his next directorial effort, an adaptation of Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, which would be another team-up with his THE SOCIAL NETWORK team of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin, along with Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, who is serving as a consultant on the film. Last year saw the release of another Steve Jobs biopic, JOBS, which starred Ashton Kutcher as the visionary figure, but Fincher's project is certain to attract a bigger pool of A-list talent and certainly gain more noteriety simply with those already involved.

Here's the book synopsis (from Amazon):

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.  

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

I thought THE SOCIAL NETWORK was great and Fincher is a talent that is a no-brainer draw; I'll see anything he does (including his small screen work on shows like Netflix's House of Cards). Sorkin has a knack for these type of stories as well (see: MONEYBALL, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, THE SOCIAL NETWORK) and I'm eager to see how he adapts the life of Jobs, based on Isaacson's book. It's essentially the A-list version of the Kutcher film (which really wasn't that bad) and is likely to gain the same kind of steam that THE SOCIAL NETWORK did back in 2010.

Fincher's GONE GIRL is set for release on October 3, 2014.