Matthew Modine signs on to play John Sculley in jOBS biopic
Veteran actor Matthew Modine has been added to the cast of the upcoming jOBS biopic and will be playing the role of former Apple CEO John Sculley, who many recognize as being the man who "fired" Steve Jobs from his own company.
Modine told CBSNews on Tuesday that he would be playing Sculley, the former CEO of Pepsi who was brought in by Jobs to help Apple in 1983 and famously fired the company's co-founder two years later.
The actor doesn't view Sculley as an antagonist and instead sees the former CEO as the catalyst to Jobs' later success.
"It's my feeling -- and I think there's a lot of people who feel -- that had John Sculley not fired Steve Jobs from Apple Computers and Steve go on the journey that he did when he was away from Apple Computers that we wouldn't be speaking about Steve Jobs today," Modine said.
He goes on to liken Sculley to the coach who cut Michael Jordan from his high school basketball team, saying that the challenges faced by both men forced them to prove their detractors wrong.
The film, which has already started principle filming at Jobs' old Los Altos home, is being directed by Joshua Michael Stern ("Swing Vote") and will star Ashton Kutcher in a chronicle of the tech pioneer's "30 most defining years" from 1971 to the early 2000s. Attached to the project are Ahna O'Reilly who will play Chris-Ann Brennan, Jobs' ex-girlfriend and mother to his daughter, while Broadway star Josh Gad is set to take the role of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
jOBS is one of two biopics currently underway, the other being a Sony-backed larger budget Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network") project based on Walter Isaacson's official Steve Jobs biography.
Modine told CBSNews on Tuesday that he would be playing Sculley, the former CEO of Pepsi who was brought in by Jobs to help Apple in 1983 and famously fired the company's co-founder two years later.
The actor doesn't view Sculley as an antagonist and instead sees the former CEO as the catalyst to Jobs' later success.
"It's my feeling -- and I think there's a lot of people who feel -- that had John Sculley not fired Steve Jobs from Apple Computers and Steve go on the journey that he did when he was away from Apple Computers that we wouldn't be speaking about Steve Jobs today," Modine said.
He goes on to liken Sculley to the coach who cut Michael Jordan from his high school basketball team, saying that the challenges faced by both men forced them to prove their detractors wrong.
The film, which has already started principle filming at Jobs' old Los Altos home, is being directed by Joshua Michael Stern ("Swing Vote") and will star Ashton Kutcher in a chronicle of the tech pioneer's "30 most defining years" from 1971 to the early 2000s. Attached to the project are Ahna O'Reilly who will play Chris-Ann Brennan, Jobs' ex-girlfriend and mother to his daughter, while Broadway star Josh Gad is set to take the role of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
jOBS is one of two biopics currently underway, the other being a Sony-backed larger budget Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network") project based on Walter Isaacson's official Steve Jobs biography.
Comments
This guy is completely wrong. He thinks that John Sculley put Jobs on the fast track? News flash Tom Brokaw, Steve Jobs was a force that could not be stopped; his success had nothing - absolutely nothing to do with John Sculley.
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Originally Posted by kkerst
…Steve Jobs was a force that could not be stopped; his success had nothing - absolutely nothing to do with John Sculley.
Butterfly effect. Absolutely Steve's firing was a good decision.
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Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Butterfly effect. Absolutely Steve's firing was a good decision.
I agree. It put the sting of realism in his bonnet.
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Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
I agree. It put the sting of realism in his bonnet.
My question though is that if this pic is supposed to be about Jobs' early life as they said it was, why is John Sculley even in it? It kind of suggests that the script ends with Steve being fired, which itself goes contrary to the whole "get inspired" thing they were talking about. It's kind of a downer to end the movie on that note, but if it goes further, then it isn't about Jobs' early life really. Seems confusing to me.
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Originally Posted by bspears
They just added another 185 lbs of suck to this project.
It's not overriding my feelings of meh.
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Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Butterfly effect. Absolutely Steve's firing was a good decision.
That's what folks like Scully and Modine might want to think but for all we know if Steve Jobs hadn't been fired, the current line up could have still failed and Steve might have had the whole 'let's base it on Unix' idea and we'd still have ended up with Mac OS X etc. perhaps in a bit sooner. There's really no way of knowing.
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Originally Posted by Gazoobee
My question though is that if this pic is supposed to be about Jobs' early life as they said it was, why is John Sculley even in it? It kind of suggests that the script ends with Steve being fired, which itself goes contrary to the whole "get inspired" thing they were talking about. It's kind of a downer to end the movie on that note, but if it goes further, then it isn't about Jobs' early life really. Seems confusing to me.
Maybe the whole movie is told from Sculley's perspective? LOL
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Originally Posted by charlituna
…if Steve Jobs hadn't been fired, the current line up could have still failed and Steve might have had the whole 'let's base it on Unix' idea and we'd still have ended up with Mac OS X etc. perhaps in a bit sooner. There's really no way of knowing.
He wouldn't have started Pixar. He wouldn't have had to make NeXT. He would have continued his unabashed, deluded, FULLY self-important…
Look, Steve himself said it was right, didn't he?
Man, they are really dragging the bottom of the lake for this movie.
It's hard to know for sure but I am convinced that Steve was made better for it and Apple and the world at large was made better for the advancements that came from NeXT that might not have otherwise happened.
As for this film I have absolutely no interest in watching it. I would like to see a film titled NeXT: The Best Failure of Steve Jobs or something to that effect. Sadly I will never accomplish anything as great as what is considered Jobs biggest failure in business.
PS: Speaking of The Butterfly Effect, that was actually an enjoyable movie starring Ashton Kutcher.
Private Joker, do you believe in the Virgin Mary?
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Oridiginally Posted by JollyPaul
Private Joker, do you believe in the Virgin Mary?
Did you mean to post this somewhere else? A different website, perhaps? privaterjoker hasn't even made any posts here yet.
hahaha!
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Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Did you mean to post this somewhere else? A different website, perhaps? privaterjoker hasn't even made any posts here yet.
Mathew Modine played "Private Joker" in "Full Metal Jacket"
Tallest! Get Off My Obstacle!!!!!!
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Originally Posted by bdkennedy
Man, they are really dragging the bottom of the lake for this movie.
It's like an ABC After School Special... "Kids! Get Inspired!"
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Originally Posted by bspears
They just added another 185 lbs of suck to this project.
Matthew Modine is awesome and a great actor. I've got a feeling you're just here to be a prick?
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Originally Posted by kkerst
This guy is completely wrong. He thinks that John Sculley put Jobs on the fast track? News flash Tom Brokaw, Steve Jobs was a force that could not be stopped; his success had nothing - absolutely nothing to do with John Sculley.
I think getting fired and having the experiences of both Next and Pixar made Steve Jobs a far better executive. It caused him, at least to some extent, to listen to others more and it also taught him how to delegate. And while I don't think anyone would call Jobs humble, I think both getting fired and the commercial failure at Next did humble him just a bit. While there is no doubt that Jobs was a genius, I'm not sure he would have been so successful upon his return to Apple had it not been for those other experiences. So Sculley forced those other things to happen. Sculley, on the other hand, didn't seem to learn anything from getting fired at Apple.
Kevin James is going to play Gil Amelio.