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David Fincher (and perhaps Christian Bale with him) rejected by Sony for upcoming Jobs biopic

David Fincher might be out for director of Sony’s upcoming Steve Jobs biopic as a report from The Hollywood Reporter claims sources close to the project say Sony is currently shopping for a replacement. The report claims Fincher is asking for “aggressive demands for compensation and control,” some of which include $10 million in upfront fees and control over marketing materials.

Fincher is said to be seeking a hefty $10 million up front in fees, as well as control over marketing, in negotiations with the studio. Sony allowed him considerable input into the marketing of the 2011 film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, including honoring his request to use the tagline “The Feel Bad Movie of Christmas” in its campaign. A source says Fincher also had the studio create metal, razor-blade-shaped one-sheet materials for the film that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce but were not suitable for display in theaters.

Sony isn’t officially commenting on the news, but if true, Fincher would be leaving behind producer Scott Rudin and writer Aaron Sorkin who are both involved in the Steve Jobs Sony film and previously teamed up with Fincher on The Social Network.

What that means for the possibility of Christian Bale playing Jobs, who was reportedly Fincher’s first choice, remains to be seen. Sony is aiming to start filming by the end of the year.

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Comments

  1. towamp - 10 years ago

    enough with SJ movies… please!

  2. RP - 10 years ago

    These types of movies do not usually make huge amounts of money regardless of how many awards nominations they may receive. The audience is limited and Sony is absolutely correct in not giving any director or star huge salaries. Big name directors and stars usually work on these type of films out of respect for the subject, work for scale and take a back-end deal on profits.

  3. themis333 - 10 years ago

    Too bad. He was my main reason for being excited. Without him, let’s just hope it’s not another retread of that last telling if Steve Jobs’ life, which was awful.

  4. scumbolt2014 - 10 years ago

    I hope they cancel producrion. These kind of movies suck.

  5. Ryan James - 10 years ago

    if u wnt this movie to get any sort of recognition take Cristian Bale., this’s his oscar winning role im telling u, if Sony takes anyone else for the role they re fools

  6. moofer1972 - 10 years ago

    Yay. Another Steve movie.

  7. I just wonder how the hell they plan to Segway between the three events, decades apart.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.