AppleInsider Staff
Released last Friday to mostly negative reviews, "Jobs" starring Ashton Kutcher earned less than its studio hoped it would over the weekend.
Playing on 2,381 screens across the U.S., "Jobs" took in an estimated $6.7 million this weekend, with Sunday totals projected. That's less than the $8 million to $9 million that distributor Open Road Films hoped it would earn, according to Box Office Mojo.
Critics weren't impressed with the film, earning a rating of just 25 percent "fresh" on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
Still, the movie has a good shot at turning a profit in theaters and through eventual DVD sales. The film had a reported production budget of $12 million, meaning "Jobs" made most of its money back in the first three days.
While "Jobs" from Open Road Films was an independent production, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will be the subject of another upcoming film being produced by Sony and penned by Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin has described his film as "a play in three scenes," as it will be comprised entirely of backstage moments before the unveiling of three iconic products: the original Mac, NeXT, and the iPod.
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106 Comments
It was a good Hollywood film. I've read virtually all of the books on Jobs and Woz, as well as Apple.
There was hardly an article on AppleInsider or anywhere else that when they mentioned the Kutcher version (he did a nice Job(s)) the writer had to kill himself to get right to the Sorkin film, as soon as possible, not giving this one a fair hearing. Sure there was license, that usually makes it better, at least in this one. It was an "emotional" film. Geeks might not like that, they already have their pre-formed opinion whereas I actually bothered to see it. I am buying a DVD and my g/f wants to get her own.
Geeks often don't give anyone a break. The difference between Hollywood and the technocrats is usually, budget, talent, film direction, story writing, and acting. In other words, the reasons they don't often do well with women... it's obsession.
Go see it and "enjoy" it.
One last thing... when should ANYONE care what "critics" think?
We see this time and time again.
If you don't have a good director/writer, the movie stinks and few will want to go see it. I really wish a GREAT director would have helmed the project and not this guy.
I recently saw the new Wizard of Oz... it wasn't good. I kept thinking how great Wes Anderson of a Wizard of Oz movie he could have made; not that he would accept the job.
Not that I care about it, but Elysium brining in $13.6 million in its second weekend guarantees we won't have to see another landfill motion picture from this saga.
A dumb movie, and it'll take a lot more than $12 million to make its money back. There are massive marketing and distribution charges that are significantly bigger than the budget itself. It won't make a penny for its investors.
Because even the clueless grandmother movie goer read the marquee and said, "Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs? Skip."