Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Sony Pictures is dropping plans to produce a film about Steve Jobs after a series of casting miscues, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Scheduling issues led to the decision, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named. Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures is in talks to acquire the film, according to industry website Deadline.com, which reported the talks late yesterday.

The move follows various changes to the cast and production team for the film. Danny Boyle, director of the Oscar winning “Slumdog Millionaire,” is attached to the project after it had initially been linked to David Fincher, who directed “The Social Network.”

Kori Bernards, a spokeswoman for Universal Pictures, declined to comment. A representative at Sony Pictures in Japan wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Sony shares fell 1.1 percent to 2,414.50 yen at 2:44 p.m. in Tokyo.

Sony said earlier this month that the pictures unit, maker of the “Spider-Man” movies, will turn into a $10 billion-a- year business during the next three years, compared with about $8 now.

The film division of Tokyo-based Sony Corp. acquired the rights to create a film based on the Walter Isaacson biography “Steve Jobs,” after the Apple Inc. co-founder’s death in 2011. The script is being co-written by Aaron Sorkin, who won an Oscar for the “The Social Network” screenplay.

Leonardo DiCaprio first dropped out of talks to play Jobs, people with knowledge of the matter said in October. Christian Bale was then considered for the role and subsequently pulled out, people familiar with the situation said at the time. Michael Fassbender has most recently been in talks over taking on the role, according to Deadline.

Seth Rogen, known for comedies such as 2007’s “Superbad,” has been in talks to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The film had been in pre-production, according to Imdb.com.