Steve Jobs, the movie based on the late former-Apple CEO has ended its run in the limelight in much the way it set out – as a bit of a flop.
The film received two nominations at the 88th Academy Awards – Michael Fassbender as Best Actor for his portrayal of Jobs, and Kate Winslet as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Joanna Hoffman – neither of which won. While Fassbender’s nod was not expected to win against the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio, who eventually won for his role in The Revenant, there was still hope for Winslet, who had picked up the Best Actress award at the Golden Globes in January, where Sorkin also picked up an award for his penmanship.
In fact, it was the film’s efforts at the Globes, plus its success at the Palm Springs International Film Festival earlier that month where it won the International Star prize that provided a silver lining to its poor box office performance. However, after a disappointing display at the Oscars, it looks like the movie’s cycle will bow on a sour note.
The movie, which was written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Danny Boyle revolved around three key historical product launches: the Apple Macintosh, the NeXT computer, and the iMac G3. However, it was a box office disappointment on its release in October last year, making only $7.1 million on its opening weekend – placing it just seventh at the box office. It went on to make $34.4 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million, however, that doesn’t take into account marketing costs.
Despite this, the film maintains an 85% ‘fresh’ rating on reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes having been critically lauded.