Sony Courting Aaron Sorkin To Write The Developing Steve Jobs Biopic

Too obvious? Aaron Sorkin, the Academy Award winning pen behind “The Social Network” and Emmy honored scribe of “The West Wing,” and no stranger to portraits of larger than life figures in positions of power, is being sought to pen the gestating Steve Jobs biopic reports 24 Frames.

It’s barely been three weeks since the death of the Apple CEO and technology titan, the wheels are already turning on a movie about his life. About 48 hours after he died, Sony optioned the rights to “Steve Jobs,” the biography penned by Walter Isaacson that was initially set for release next year, but was fast tracked and is in bookstores today. Shortly after that in a remembrance of Jobs penned by Sorkin, the writer recalled that the Pixar co-founder once asked him to write a movie for the animation studio. When Sorkin worried about being able to write for inanimate objects, Jobs reassured him that, “Once you make them talk, they won’t be inanimate.” Given the Facebook movie, and his friendly association with Jobs, the connect-the-dots work is pretty easy to follow and it’s clear why the studio wants him.

But we wonder if Sorkin is the best man for the job. Granted, it’s still just an idea floating out there and it may not even come to pass, but Sorkin has already done the Silicon Valley thing (to some degree) with “The Social Network” but we’d almost feel better with someone who can approach the life of Steve Jobs objectively to take on the writing duties. While he was a fearless innovator, Jobs was also known for being ruthless, rude and arrogant. There is no doubt that Jobs’ life is made for the big screen, but if it wants to be honest, it will need a balanced approach to the man who changed the way we work, listen to music, watch movies and communicate in general. So while we wait to see how this unfolds, check out the extended interview with Isaacson from “60 Minutes” below. It’s pretty fascinating stuff.