Despite its disappointing box office results, the Aaron Sorkin-penned, Danny Boyle-directed sort-of biopic Steve Jobs is going on to enjoy awards success.
The film, which stars Michael Fassbender as the titular Jobs, maintained strong reviews before its release and currently holds an 85% ‘fresh’ rating on reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s not quite Oscars time yet – Academy Awards winners are announced at the end of February – but Fassbender has been awarded the International Star prize at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Now, Jobs has started to win big on the festival and awards circuit, which might go some way to convince the film’s studio Universal that the film was a worthwhile pursuit.
The award was presented by Kate Winslet, Fassbender’s co-star from the film.
Though noting the poor box office performance (“thank god for [Universal’s] Jurassic World” he said), Fassbender said “I believe you have a movie that will stand the test of time.”
The critics may have loved it, but elsewhere Steve Jobs has struggled, particularly among family, friends, and others in Silicon Valley, while audiences spoke through their absence in theaters showing the film.
However, the Golden Globes, which will announce its winners at the ceremony in January, nominated the film for four awards including Fassbender for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Winslet in Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Apple’s PR guru Joanna Hoffman, Aaron Sorkin for Best Screenplay and Daniel Pemberton for Best Original Score.
Even without the box office success, it’s certainly becoming harder to fault the quality of the film itself.