The same writer of the Oscar-winning film The Social Network could be taking the story of Steve Jobs to the big screen, too. According to an L.A. Times report, Sony is pursuing Aaron Sorkin to adapt Walter Isaacson’s biography of the late Apple co-founder into a film.
Sony has yet to confirm that it has bought feature rights to Isaacson’s book, which went on sale on Monday, and the studio did not respond to a request for comment. Sorkin’s people declined comment as well.
But citing “a person who was briefed on the project but not authorized to speak about it publicly,” the L.A. Times claimed that Sony is going forward with the flick and it wants Sorkin to pen the screenplay.
Sorkin turned Ben Mezrich’s book based on the rise of Facebook called The Accidental Billionaires into an Oscar-winning film. The Social Network won three Academy Awards, one of which went to Sorkin for Best Screenplay Adaptation.
Sony is reportedly hoping that Sorkin can work similar magic with the story of Steve Jobs. The L.A. Times also pegged Mark Gordon of Saving Private Ryan fame as the producer of the Jobs movie.
A Steve Jobs biopic could be inevitable. Deadline reported two weeks ago that Sony was willing to bid as much as $3 million to buy the rights to Isaacson’s book, the first and only authorized biography of the former Apple CEO. Isaacson spent three years conducting exclusive, candid interviews with Jobs and his friends, family, colleagues, and rivals to put together the almost 600-page book.
If the rumors are true, it would be the first time Steve Jobs' story will have been made into a feature film. A made-for-TV movie that depicted the early days of Microsoft and Apple called The Pirates of Silicon Valley was released in 1999, but more than a decade and several generations of iPods and iPhones later, there is much more to the story.