Why You Can Trust CNET Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic to play out in three acts
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin reveals some of the first details about his Steve Jobs film, which is one of two currently in production.
That other Steve Jobs movie, currently being written by "West Wing" and "Newsroom" creator Aaron Sorkin, will apparently be told in three acts, the screenwriter said today.
In an onstage interview at the Hero Summit (relayed by tweets from the The Daily Beast), Sorkin detailed a bit of how the story would play out, saying it would take place across three, half hour scenes and behind the curtains at three of Apple's product launches for the first Macintosh computer, NeXT computer, and the iPod.
Jobs was a well-known showman at such events, adding an air of excitement and build-up to what was ultimately the announcement of an electronic good, a tradition the company maintains today. Books have been written about Jobs' presentation style, and the company's Keynote software came out of Jobs' desire for an alternative to Microsoft's PowerPoint.
Up until now, Sorkin has been tight-lipped about the details of the film, primarily because it was still being written. In an interview earlier this year at the D10 conference, he noted the difficulty in putting together a screen play about such a well known individual, adding that he was trying to shake the typical "cradle-to-grave structure of a biography," focusing instead on a "point of friction."
Sorkin famously penned "The Social Network" from Ben Mezrich's book "The Accidental Billionaires," which chronicled the founding and rise of Facebook. The film went on to win critical acclaim, though it failed to pick up an Oscar for Best Picture at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, after being nominated. It did, however, win three Academy Awards, including one for Best Screenplay Adaptation, which went to Sorkin.
The film, which is being made by Sony Pictures, is not to be confused with a separate film about Jobs, called "jOBS," which features Ashton Kutcher in the role of the company's co-founder and CEO. That film is expected to be released next year.
Update at 1:20 p.m. PT: The entire interview has been posted online. The thread about work on the film begins at 22:29: