Production hopes to commence next month

While Apple fans debate how well lead actor Ashton Kutcher will (or won't) do portraying Steve Jobs in the upcoming independent bio-pic Jobs, Broadway star Josh Gad from The Book of Mormon is in talks to portray Steve Wozniak, Apple's other co-founder, says The Hollywood Reporter. The movie, which is planning to start shooting next month, will cover a section of Jobs' life from his student days up to the founding of -- and subsequent 1997 return to -- Apple.

The film is a modestly-budgeted project ($5 million) and not intended to be a comprehensive look at Jobs' life. The movie is being funded by mortgage industry trade show and publisher Five Star Institute, and will be directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote, Neverwas). According to Five Start Institute head Mark Hulme, the movie will cover roughly from 1971 to 2000.

Hulme has said that distribution deals are in the works and that he expects the film to be completed before the year's end. Neither Apple nor the Jobs estate is involved in the production. Gad's most recent film role was in Love and Other Drugs. Sony Pictures is said to also be working on a more comprehensive look at the legendary former Apple CEO, possibly scripted by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network), but that film is expected to be longer in coming.

by MacNN Staff