The first official photo of Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs was released this week, just as the Sundance Institute announced that the upcoming biopic jOBS would premiere as the closing film of its annual Sundance Film Festival on January 27. When it was revealed earlier this year that Kutcher would star in an independent film about Apple's iconic former CEO, there was some debate about whether or not he was a good choice for the role. The image released today suggests that he at least has the look down pat.
jOBS, directed by Michael Stern and written by Matt Whiteley, covers the "defining 30 years of Steve Jobs' life," and should prove to be a marked contrast to the Aaron Sorkin-penned film being produced by Sony Pictures. While that film plans to tell the story of Jobs' via three "behind the scenes" vignettes taking place during three of Jobs' most famous product introductions, jOBS promises to be a "candid, inspiring, and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently."
(Oddly, none of the upcoming films seem to be interested in a detailed look at the last decade or so of Jobs' life—that's a movie I'd personally like to see.)
Having long been fan of the 1999 made-for-TV movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, it's a bit hard to picture anyone playing Steve Jobs as well as actor Noah Wyle. Wyle was so convincing that he made a surprise cameo during Jobs' keynote at the 1999 Macworld Expo. But Kutcher certainly seems to look the part of Jobs in his younger days in the late '70s, complete with his anti-establishment longish hair and beard.
Love it or hate it, jOBS will feature an all-star cast, including Josh Gad (as the affable Steve Wozniak), Dermot Mulroney (Mike Markkula), Lukas Haas (Daniel Kottke), J.K. Simmons (Arthur Rock), Matthew Modine (John Sculley), James Woods (Jack Dudman), Kevin Dunn (Gil Amelio), Lesley Ann Warren (Clara Jobs), and Ron Eldard (Rod Holt), among others.
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