It all seemed like a perfect fit. David Fincher, reuniting with Sony and Aaron Sorkin for a biopic on the late Steve Jobs. It would be like The Social Network all over again, right? Well, maybe it would have, but now Fincher is out and any good feelings there were are out the window.
Fincher has dropped out of the Jobs biopic, with THR reporting that Sony declined the director's $10M upfront fee and demand for creative control. This isn't totally unexpected. Fincher entered talks officially for the film a couple of months ago, but there are still some bad feelings over how things went on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not only did the film underwhelm at the box office, but Fincher had to fight Sony to get what he wanted the entire time, and that includes convincing them to hire Rooney Mara for the lead role. After that struggle, it's no surprise he's making big demands, just as it's no surprise Sony is shooting them down.
A new director is being sought, and it doesn't look like Christian Bale, who was eyed for the Jobs role, is going to be involved either. The door is open for Fincher to return, but not at the cost he's asking for.
