‘jOBS’ biopic starring Ashton Kutcher will shoot in original Apple Garage and childhood home

Élyse Betters | May 18 2012 - 5:51 pm PT

The folks behind the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, now dubbed “jOBS,” which stars Ashton Kutcher as the late CEO, released a presser this evening to announce the production’s June start date for filming. They also confirmed shooting will begin in the “historic garage” where Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple. The film’s early scenes will even feature Jobs’ Los Altos home where he grew up to maintain “accuracy and authenticity” during the movie-making process.

Ken Segall, the author of “Insanely Simple,” took to his blog recently to discuss the Kutcher biopic that now boasts authentic roots, and he compared it to another movie in the works by Sony, which is based on Walter Isaacson’s biography, features a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, and has Wozniak signed-on as an advisor.

“Apparently, there are two ways to make a Steve Jobs movie,” explained Segall. “You can do a low-budget indie film using director Joshua Michael Stern (who?) and first-time screenwriter Matt Whitely, and give it an appropriately cheesy name like [original name was ‘Steve Jobs: Get Inspired’, but it is now ‘jOBS’]. Or you can pay Isaacson a million bucks for the rights to his book, and prepare to pay far bigger bucks for everything that follows. Which is what Sony Pictures has done, bless their little hearts.”

Segall proposed the Sony flick should start with the “glory of Macintosh,” and then move to Jobs being annexed from Apple. It should at that point illustrate the NeXT phase, but appropriately lead into where Jobs cannot live without Apple—nor can it live without him. The bulk of the movie would then show a “chess game,” where Jobs entices Apple to buy NeXT, only to win the confidence of the board, turn CEO of Apple again, and reclaim his rightful place in life. The ending, of course, should pan to a”world of possibilities.”

Whether or not Sony heeds to Segall’s insightful recommendation, it is obvious that the film starring Kutcher is taking a personal and anecdotal side, where as the Sony production is spending big bucks to reiterate Isaacson’s widely popular biography. It will be interesting to see how this war of cinema plays out on the big screen.

The press release follows:

Ashton Kutcher Stars in Title Role

LOS ANGELES, May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The film chronicling the life of Steve Jobs, the Apple Inc. co-founder and charismatic master of innovation, begins principal photography in June and in keeping with the project’s commitment to accuracy and authenticity, will film early scenes in the actual Los Altos home where Jobs grew up and in the historic garage where he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple.

Titled jOBS, the biopic stars Ashton Kutcher as the iconic Silicon Valley visionary, and will shed new light on Steve Jobs’ most defining and personal moments, motivations, and the people that drove him. The film covers Jobs from his early years as an impressionable youth and wayward hippie, through his initial successes and infamous ousting, to his storybook return and ultimate triumphs as a man who set out to change the world and did just that.

Executive producer Mark Hulme and Five Star Feature Films launched the production immediately following Jobs’ retirement in August 2011. Screenwriter Matt Whiteley, while penning the script, utilized a team of expert researchers based on months of exhaustive research and interviews with Steve Jobs’ friends, colleagues, and mentors to develop the most truthful and gripping picture of Jobs’ life.

From director Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote, Neverwas), and Oscar winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter (Titanic), jOBS details the major moments and defining characters that influenced Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 through 2000.

jOBS chronicles the 30 most defining years of Steve Jobs’ life, as seen through his, colleagues’, and friends’ eyes. Dark, honest, and uncompromising, jOBS plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life.

A rousing narrative of this business and tech icon, jOBS pulls no punches and does not speculate, telling only the candid and captivating account of the life of Steven Paul Jobs.

The film is represented by Creative Artists Agency.

jOBS will be released in late fall 2012. For more information go to www.thejobsmovie.com.