November 22, 2011, 4:35 PM — To the surprise of absolutely no one, Hollywood is interested in turning the life story of Steve Jobs into box-office gold, baby!
Aaron Sorkin, who won an Oscar for the script that became last year's smash-hit film about the founding of Facebook, "The Social Network," says Sony Pictures has approached him about writing a screenplay for a movie about the Apple co-founder.
"Sony has asked me to write the movie and it's something I'm strongly considering," Sorkin told us at the P.S. Arts Express Yourself 2011 event in Santa Monica.
Sony reportedly bought the film rights to Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Jobs, who died in early October at age 56 after a long struggle with cancer.
Sorkin said he's reading Isaacson's book, but isn't yet committed to the project.
"Right now I'm just in the thinking-about-it stages," Eonline quotes the screenwriter. "It's a really big movie and it's going to be a great movie no matter who writes it."
I beg to differ with Sorkin because it's anything but certain the movie will be great "no matter who writes it." There are a million ways a film can get screwed up. But one thing is for sure: A biopic of Steve Jobs will be made.
Given that obvious fact, who should play the coveted title role? Let's start by listing some actors who probably won't be getting the part:
Sylvester Stallone
Charlie Sheen
Michael Richards
Chaz Bono
Will Smith
Jackie Chan
Adam Sandler
Verne Troyer
Conversely, these names might merit serious consideration:
Robert Downey Jr.
Johnny Depp
Jude Law
Brad Pitt
Alexander Skarsgard
Chris Pine
Jim Carrey
I added that last one as a joke, but if you saw Carrey in "Man On the Moon," you'd know he can bring the kind of intensity to the role that someone playing the ultra-focused Jobs would need.
Most of my short-list actors are in their 30s and 40s, so I'll leave it to Hollywood to handle the parts of Jobs's life when he was both much younger and older.
Let's hear who some readers would like to see play Jobs. Feel free to post your suggestions in the comments box below.
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