Steve Jobs team won’t let bad box office kill Oscar campaign

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Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie is coming to Netflix
Universal is chasing an award for their efforts.
Photo: François Duhamel/©2015 Universal Studios

Steve Jobs may have flopped at the box office, but the team responsible for it are still confident that they can make up for the dismal lack of earnings with an Oscar.

According to a new report, Aaron Sorkin, Jeff Daniels (who plays John Sculley) and director Danny Boyle recently attended an “intimate brunch and Q&A” with a roomful of Academy voters at the St. Regis hotel.

Aaron Sorkin made some interesting comments at the event, describing his interactions with Steve Wozniak, who served as a paid consultant on the movie.

Sorkin noted that Woz was a “very nice guy” for ten minutes, then, “by minute 11, without any provocation, what begins to seethe out is, ‘I don’t get how Steve Jobs became Simon, and I’m Garfunkel. He can’t play the guitar, he can’t read music, he can’t write a song, he can’t sing. It blows me away that this has happened. He took credit for [things] he didn’t do.'”

As we’ve written about previously, Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s Jobs biopic was dumped from 2,072 screens after its already weak box office takings fell a massive 69 percent soon after opening. According to the latest data, it seems that the movie may well wind up taking less money than the 2013 movie Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher.

If Steve Jobs is able to take home an Oscar, it could enjoy a much-needed boost at the box office. An academic study called “What’s an Oscar Worth?” argues that Oscar-nominated movies get a boost of around $4.8 million, while bringing home the Best Picture award translates to a boost of roughly $12.7 million. Having made less than $18 million so far, either of these sums would be much appreciated for the filmmakers.

Universal Pictures previously released Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for Steve Jobs as part of its Oscar campaign. You can read it here.

Source: PageSix

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