Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin said today that he is at the "earliest possible stage" in penning a script about the life of Steve Jobs, and acknowledged the daunting task ahead of him.
"One of the hesitations I had in taking on the movie is that it was a little like writing about The Beatles," Sorkin said during an appearance at the D10 conference in California, which was webcast.
"There are so many people who know so much about him and revere him," Sorkin continued, that "I just saw a minefield of disappointment" when initially offered the project.
Earlier this month, Sony Pictures confirmed that Sorkin will write the screenplay that will turn Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple's late CEO, Steve Jobs, into a feature film.
Sorkin speculated that by the time he's done with his research, he'll "be in the same ballpark of knowledge about Steve Jobs" as his fans, but there will still be people who are disappointed no matter what you do, Sorkin said.
"All I can say at this early stage of the game is that I think any time you are at the movies … and see 'the following is based a true story' – you should think of it as a painting and not a photograph," he said.
The West Wing creator joked that his current creative process regarding the Jobs project would "not look to any casual observer like writing; it would look more like watching ESPN."
At this point, however, Sorkin does know that his film won't follow the Isaacson biography exactly. "It's very difficult to shake the cradle to grave structure of biographies," Sorkin said. It's more likely that Sorkin will identify a "point of friction [in Jobs's life] that appeals me and dramatize that."
Casting has not yet been discussed, but the actor playing Jobs "is going to have to be smart," Sorkin said. "There are a lot of things that actors can fake, but ... intelligence is not something you can fake."
Sorkin is not the only one penning a Jobs movie. Ashton Kutcher is starring as the Apple co-founder in a competing film, but Sorkin said he wasn't worried, pointing to the fact that there were two films about Truman Capote several years ago.
"Steve Jobs is a big enough person and led a big enough life that there's room for more than one movie," Sorkin said.
In response to a question about the trend of anti-heroes in many of today's popular TV shows (Breaking Bad, Mad Men), Sorkin said that he usually gravitates toward idealistic and romantic characters. He had to break with that in writing The Social Network and he'll likely have to do the same with Jobs, but regardless, "I can't judge the character," Sorkin said. "You want to write the character as if they are making their case to God about wanting to enter heaven."
At this point, Sorkin is focusing on his next TV endeavor, a show for HBO called The Newsroom, which debuts on June 24. And despite all his success, he admitted that he is still as nervous as ever before the debut of TV show or movie.
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