As I’m sure you’re well aware, a massive hacking of Sony Pictures has taken place, which has resulted in a flurry of revelations as emails between Sony executives and their contacts have been made public. A variety of outlets have covered the story in detail and it all reads like a dirty memoir, while at the same time offers fascinating insight into an industry that somehow manages to keep a lot of its dirty laundry quiet. You hear rumblings every now and then, but nothing too damning or revealing.
With this recent hack the studio has reportedly had to suspend filming on some of its features as it can’t process payments and in our first story looking at the fallout we’ll take a look at the saga of one film that was once in Sony’s hands and how it came to find its way to Universal.
Myself and Laremy Legel will be going through all the information that has been uncovered so far over the course of this week (and further as it seems it’s unlikely to end here), beginning with the story of Aaron Sorkin‘s Untitled Steve Jobs Biopic kicking things off.
As much as this story will be looked as a negative in terms of Sony, I don’t think for an instant this is an issue wholly exclusive to the studio as I’m sure the same scenarios have played out at several other studios and probably are right now. You think it’s easy putting a movie together? Get a load of this story.
Sony had been putting together a film adaptation of the life of Steve Jobs for February of 2012, David Fincher was attached to direct the film. Eventually, Fincher left the project, Danny Boyle was attached to direct and during that time Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale decided not to play the title role and Michael Fassbender is currently attached as Sony lost the rights to the film, which now resides at Universal.
A paper trail of emails between Sony’s Chairman Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin reveal a lot of behind-the-scenes turmoil and some interesting factoids such as a lot of bad blood beginning thanks to Angelina Jolie who was apparently upset because Sony hired Fincher to direct Jobs when she wanted him to direct the long-gestating Cleopatra picture she has long been attached to with a screenplay by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Unless I’m mistaken, I first covered Fincher’s involvement with that film back in March 2011 when Steve Zaillian (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) was writing the screenplay.
In an email thread [source] to Pascal, Rudin’s subject line reads “YOU BETTER SHUT ANGIE DOWN BEFORE SHE MAKES IT VERY HARD FOR DAVID TO DO JOBS” from there Pascal says “Do not fucking threaten me,” which set Rudin on fire: “What the hell are you talking about? Who’s threatening you? Let me remind you I brought this material to you and I can off her from [Cleopatra] in a phone call… There is no movie of Cleopatra to be made (and how is that a bad thing given the insanity and rampaging spoiled ego of this woman and the cost of the movie is beyond me)… let me tell you I have zero appetite for the indulgence of spoiled brats and I will tell her this if you don’t.”
Later Rudin calms down, while also saying Fincher wants to start shooting the Jobs picture in October 2014. He places a little more blame for the Cleopatra fiasco on the shoulders of Roth writing “a) he wrote a half baked 700 page script, and b) she’s his friend” before saying, “[I]t’s nothing to me but a staggering, colossal waste of time and money.” His confidence in Pascal also continues to wane as the emails continue, suggesting Jolie and Roth have cornered her, a situation he believes she’s not particularly good at handling.
In an email between Pascal and a Sony colleague Pascal recognizes Fincher is perfect for Jobs and the Cleopatra movie isn’t ready and should they move forward it would be “the same situation as [The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]. A disaster.” I beg to differ on that point, at least in terms the quality of Dragon Tattoo, but I digress.
As both films seem to boil in the same pot Rudin delivered the death blow, recognizing Fincher is perfect for Jobs, but the constant back and forth and the inclusion of Cleopatra in the conversation is going to cause them to lose him:
If you engage in this again, we will end up losing Fincher on the one we want him to do [Jobs] and will be stuck with shoving him onto a movie with no script [Cleopatra] that, underneath it all, you know in your heart and your brain should never be made.
I’ve told you exactly how I want to do this material. It’s the ONLY way I want to do this material. I’m not remotely interested in presiding over a $180m ego bath that we both know will be the career-defining debacle for us both. I’m not destroying my career over a minimally talented spoiled brat who thought nothing of shoving this off her plate for eighteen months so she could go direct a movie [Unbroken]. I have no desire to be making a movie with her, or anybody, that she runs and that we don’t. She’s a camp event and a celebrity and that’s all and the last thing anybody needs is to make a giant bomb with her that any fool could see coming. We will end up being the laughing stock of our industry and we will deserve it, which is so clearly where this is headed that I cannot believe we are still wasting our time with it.
[…]
There is NO relationship with any movie star — ANY one — that requires our willingness to prostrate ourselves this way in the face of childish, irresponsible, willful and un-partnerly behavior. You don’t want David Fincher on the movie. It’s your right. Stop allowing yourself to be made to feel like a criminal for it.
As we know, Fincher ended up leaving the project and as Boyle and DiCaprio circled, Sony marketing chief Michael Pavlic entered the conversation, discussing in an email to Pascal the marketing problems the film faces, the need for it to have a star, not be too talky, maybe some establishing shots and exterior shots could be added and it can’t be a three hour movie. Beyond all this, he does, however, say something that might actually make you smile:
The script is a prefect 10 but in the wrong hands it grosses mid 30’s. But it sounds like it’s going with the full package and while tricky – people deserve this kind of movie and in some weird way we have a responsibility to take these kinds of risks. Not to make it seem like we’re saving lives – but I actually think that. This is the kind of film that makes me thankful for movies and they’re few and far between these days.
Soon DiCaprio was gone just as was Bale, and the DiCaprio decision didn’t really sit well with Pascal or Jobs producer Mark Gordon, who shared an eamil back-and-forth on September 18, 2014 according to The Daily Beast in which Gordon wrote, “Was this about the deal… or did he just change his mind,” wrote Gordon. “The latter,” replied Pascal. Then, Gordon replied with, “Horrible behavior,” which was echoed by Pascal, who responded, “Actually despicable.”
Following the DiCaprio departure we learn Tobey Maguire and Matthew McConaughey approached the producers to play Jobs, Ryan Gosling was approached, Sorkin wrote in an email, “I’ve gotten Scott and Danny to the point where they’re now a little interested in Tom Cruise. Though both remain concerned about his age (me less so) everyone agrees that he’s an actor who can really handle language (Lions for Lambs, Magnolia, A Few Good Men) and a movie star who feels comfortable owning the stage.”
Maguire, McConaughey and Cruise never became part of the picture, but it was Fassbender that now came into sight, an actor of which one Sony employee wrote, “Fassbender is not a star yet, but a really fine actor who is putting together a terrific body of work.” Michael DeLuca adds, “Shame just makes you feel bad to have normal sized male genitalia.”
This all lead to where we’re at today, with Sony losing the project to Universal, and an email reply from Pascal to Rudin reading, “Why are u punishing me?” Rudin replies, “I begged you to do this movie. To imply anything other than that — even for one second or in one sentence — is going to be the end of this relationship. Go home. You’re not thinking straight.”
In the end Rudin echoed a sentiment WME talent agent Ari Emanuel hinted at in an earlier email when he wrote, “Amy, this is not what you want to hear – but this NEVER happens and any other studio. In fact they then would go out of their way to make a proper deal. Even Harvey.” Rudin’s words are even more biting:
You’ve destroyed your relationships with half the town over how you’ve behaved on this movie. If you don’t think it’s true, wait and see. Let’s see the next filmmaker WME puts in business at Sony or the next piece of star talent. I’ll bet my house I’m right.
Thus endeth the Jobs saga at Sony as it now moves to Universal. We’ll be back with more on the Sony hack in the coming days.
SOURCES: Gawker
