Natalie Portman declines role in Steve Jobs biopic

By AppleInsider Staff

It appears another big-name actor has passed on the opportunity to work on Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs movie, as Natalie Portman is no longer in talks to play the female lead.

According to Variety, Portman, who was in talks to join the cast of Universal's forthcoming Jobs film before Thanksgiving, has passed on a lead part thought to be the role of Jobs' daughter Lisa.

That leaves Michael Fassbender in the title role, with Seth Rogen set to play Steve Wozniak. Director Danny Boyle is said to be running with a script penned by Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin based on the official Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. Producers include Scott Rudin, Mark Gordon and Guymon Casady.

Portman is the latest star to pass on the Jobs movie, following departures by Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and director David Fincher.

In a related development, internal documents leaked from high-profile hack of Sony's network show box office forecasts fell some 25 percent when DiCaprio checked out, reports Fusion.

Most recently, Sony Pictures dumped the film last month after first picking up rights to Isaacson's book shortly after Jobs died in 2011. The project changed hands to Universal, which quickly took over less than a week later.

The publication says production is still on track for spring 2015.