The annals of cinema history have seen many a pair of dueling projects treading over the same ground — think about the two Truman Capote biopics a few years ago, or the dueling Alfred Hitchcock flicks this past fall. And after the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, two projects have joined that storied history. Whereas one has been moving at a slow and steady pace (the Aaron Sorkin-scripted and sure to be higher-budgeted film), the other, lower-budget and Ashton Kutcher-starring film, “Jobs,” has already been completed and is set for a closing night bow at Sundance. In fact, Deadline is reporting that the latter film now has a distribution deal in place with Open Road.
Written by first-time screenwriter Matt Whiteley and directed by “Swing Vote” helmer Joshua Michael Stern, “Jobs” focuses on the first thirty years of the Apple co-founder's career with Kutcher as the turtlenecked pioneer. “Book Of Mormon” star Josh Gad plays Steve Wozniak and leads an ensemble that includes J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine, Dermot Mulroney and James Woods.
The film is being eyed for an April release, and no doubt, Open Road is confident that critical accolades will be coming from Park City to help push the film Whatever ends up happening, the clear thing is that “Jobs” has a distinct advantage with the public at large in being the first Steve Jobs movie out of the gate.