Tom Cruise is no doubt one of the best and most versatile actors in Hollywood. Popularly known for portraying the IMF agent in the Mission Impossible franchise, he almost portrayed the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the 2015 biographical drama. It was based on the American business magnate’s biography written by Walter Isaacson. Michael Fassbender portrayed Steve Jobs in the film alongside a huge star cast, including Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen.
However, Aaron Sorkin’s emails revealed that he wanted the Vanilla Sky star to take the lead role in the film and even believed that he would do an incredible performance as Steve Jobs.
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Aaron Sorkin Wanted Tom Cruise to Star in Steve Jobs (2015)
Soon after its release, Sony Pictures acquired the rights to Walter Isaacson’s book and started working on Steve Jobs’ biopic with Aaron Sorkin. However, in 2014 the studio dropped the movie, and it ultimately went to Universal Pictures. And emails leaked due to a Sony breach revealed the reason why Sony dropped the film.
Sorkin’s emails revealed that he wanted Tom Cruise to portray the business mandate, Steve Jobs, in the film. The screenwriter also believed that the action star could surprise people with his performance in the movie and would even want to reward him for that.
“Look, I wouldn’t cast Clint Eastwood, but if I saw Tom Cruise flying around the backstage corridors of Symphony Hall, I wouldn’t think he was too old.”
The emails also revealed that Aaron Sorkin convinced the director of the film, Danny Boyle to take a look at Cruise’s performance in the 2007 film Lions for Lambs. He also believed that the Top Gun actor would have given a “dazzling performance” as Steve Jobs. However, director Danny Boyle was adamant about casting Michael Fassbender in the film.
Michael Fassbender’s Casting Led Sony to Drop Steve Jobs
While the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin wanted Tom Cruise in the film, the Slumdog Millionaire director decided to cast the X-Men star Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs. However, it became an issue for the studio, as they couldn’t get enough finances to support Boyle’s decision. Eventually, they had to drop the film, and Universal acquired the rights to the project, which reportedly cost over $30 million.
Finalizing the cast of the film reportedly delayed the film’s production. It was finally released in 2015 and was praised by critics, and landed an 85% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. But Fassbender and Kate Winslet were also nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, at the 88th Academy Awards.
Source: The Verge
