Since the unfortunate death of Apple genius and tech-icon Steve Jobs and the news that Sony picked up the rights to the biopic, word was that Aaron Sorkin was Sony’s top pick to write the movie and for good reason.
E! Online posted an update on the Jobs biopic, which has Sorkin confirming that Sony has asked him to write the movie and that it’s something he’s “strongly considering.”
"Right now I'm just in the thinking-about-it stages," he said. "It's a really big movie and it's going to be a great movie no matter who writes it."
I’ll agree with the first part in that it's going to be a really big movie, and politely disagree with the comment that it'll be a great movie no matter who writes it. Perhaps he’s optimistic that Jobs’ story is so interesting, anyone could write it into a great movie, or maybe he’s just being modest. Either way, the film should be put into the hands of someone who knows how to translate a true and intriguing story into a film that’s both entertaining and fair. Sorkin has proven to be capable of just that and has the Oscar to prove it for penning The Social Network.
It’s easy to look at The Social Network now and say that the movie was destined to be as successful as the site that plays such a big role in the movie, however Facebook-The-Movie could have been a dull tale of tech-talk and smart Harvard kids bickering over who invented Facebook, had it not been for the good direction, good acting and most definitely, good writing.
Having recently rewatched Pirates of Silicon Valley, I’ve gained an even bigger appreciation for Sorkin’s contributions to The Social Network. The TV movie which focuses on Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and the Mac vs. PC tech-war in its earlier years, touches on some interesting elements, but it drags a lot and never really comes together as a story, nor do we ever really get to the root of Gates or Jobs as people. Certainly not in the way we see Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and some of the other people portrayed in The Social Network. Pirates gets close in some ways, but it never hits the mark. The Jobs biopic might turn out to be great with some other writer, but the chances seem even more favorable with Sorkin involved.
