Photo: Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in 'jOBS'
December 4th, 2012
11:36 AM ET

Photo: Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in 'jOBS'

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival will have plenty of comedies in competition, but it'll be the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic "jOBS" that will close out the event.

The indie feature, directed by Joshua Michael Stern, covers 30 years of Jobs' life, from his days as a college dropout to becoming a defining figure in technology.

Not to be confused with Aaron Sorkin's biopic of the late visionary, who died in October 2011, "'jOBS' is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently."

Ashton Kutcher, a.k.a. TV's highest-paid actor, stars as the Apple entrepreneur, a casting choice that left some bewildered and others enraged. With the announcement of the film's premiere on Monday, Sundance also released an image of 34-year-old Kutcher dressed as a young Jobs, clad casually in jeans and holding a pair of glasses in his hand.

While the photo alone may not convince the skeptical that Kutcher was the right man for the job, the director of programming at Sundance, Trevor Groth, assures that the actor owns the role.

"We're really excited to have it as the closing night. It's really an inspirational and entertaining film about a man who has had such a significant impact on the world," Groth told USA Today. "My hunch is he got the job because he bears a striking resemblance to Jobs physically. But [Kutcher] really owns the performance."

Joining "jOBS" in the non-competitive portion of the fest will be another highly publicized biopic, "Lovelace." The film stars Amanda Seyfried as "Deep Throat" adult star Linda Lovelace, Peter Sarsgaard as Chuck Traynor and James Franco as Playboy head Hugh Hefner.

To see the full list of films premiering at Sundance, which runs January 17-27, visit Sundance.org.


Filed under: movies • Sundance Film Festival

soundoff (98 Responses)
  1. AwardWinningWoman

    Ashton is the best...get aggressive with this role and see how it goes.

    December 6, 2012 at 11:12 am | Report abuse | Reply
  2. Frank

    Ths acting task is tricky because Steve Jobs was regarded as very intelligent, whereas Ashton Kutcher excels at being a moron. Steve Jobs could easily personify Ashton, Ashton will never, ever, ever have the ability to personify Steve.

    December 6, 2012 at 11:08 am | Report abuse | Reply
  3. AwardWinningWoman

    ashton and i are professional that's why we win presents and gifts...i just received a louis vitton bag from
    the big man...what a great day today.

    December 6, 2012 at 10:29 am | Report abuse | Reply
  4. kERRY

    I wish Ashton the best and hope he can pull it off. Looking like Jobs helps but convincing a public will be a challenge.

    December 6, 2012 at 10:28 am | Report abuse | Reply
  5. Joe citizen abroad

    Wow! That's Ashton Kutcher?! Astonishing! Obviously, he is completely immersed his character. What a remarkable transformation! I hardly recognized him in that black plastic 1980's watch.

    December 6, 2012 at 10:25 am | Report abuse | Reply
  6. River

    Can this guy get a REAL JOB!!!

    December 6, 2012 at 8:02 am | Report abuse | Reply
  7. I'm going to gobble you up later

    locating that....(43) thank you-time for the 518am feeding...bye ashton see u in the movies

    December 6, 2012 at 5:19 am | Report abuse | Reply
  8. davidintel

    He's got the looks, pity he can't act.

    December 6, 2012 at 5:08 am | Report abuse | Reply
  9. Grim Reaper

    Ashton Kutcher with a beard what a stretch. Will the movie come with aspirin and a pillow?

    December 5, 2012 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  10. demi

    is a moron–she's pathetic–she went down this road with bruce willis who cheated on her also....
    its like when does woman see it coming....when i was younger i peaced out right away when
    i sensed...i didn't even wait...i just said bye.

    December 5, 2012 at 9:00 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  11. Chris

    I still liked Noah Wyle the best as Steve in Pirates of Silicon Valley!

    December 5, 2012 at 5:49 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  12. lol

    said othr nite amzing-wnts mre ltr..

    December 5, 2012 at 4:43 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  13. MMM(3)

    he's cute he'll make it.

    December 5, 2012 at 3:54 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • Mary

      HE'S SUCH A DOG – after what he did to Demi Moore his "career" should just go away and die.

      December 5, 2012 at 4:58 pm | Report abuse |
  14. nnn

    He too pretty to play steve jobs.

    December 5, 2012 at 3:52 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  15. jj

    Ashton has a track record as a fairly good actor. But in the photo he looks like Ashton, not Steve Jobs. I will have to see the movie to see if he can recreate the character. I am one of the few people who thought that Lindsey Lohan actually did a pretty good job as Liz.

    December 5, 2012 at 3:26 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  16. he's a good actor

    we have to see if he fits the bill

    December 5, 2012 at 3:25 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  17. DF

    What a crappy actor. He looks more like a duche, rather than a Jobs.

    December 5, 2012 at 2:01 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  18. Joe

    If you read the biography about Jobs one will discover that while he strived for quality and perfection, as a person Steve Jobs was not a nice guy.

    December 5, 2012 at 1:55 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  19. The MacTongue

    ashton is my man.

    December 5, 2012 at 1:55 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  20. looknclick

    But can he play Obama?

    December 5, 2012 at 1:43 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  21. Mr. Jobs was the best...

    and loved his craft until death. i saw one of his last speeches and he did not look well.....but it was business as usual because that's how he was until the bitter end. god bless you Mr. Jobs.

    December 5, 2012 at 1:16 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  22. Ashton will do a fine job

    he's a decent actor and we hope for the best....

    December 5, 2012 at 1:08 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  23. stop this bad language...

    we need to support ashton and his new acting challenge...don't worry be happy everyone...

    December 5, 2012 at 1:04 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  24. first time his brother shows up at an early meeting

    in months....had to run cancellations...

    December 5, 2012 at 12:38 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  25. jobs's brother was up early

    to hit the delete buttons this morning

    December 5, 2012 at 12:36 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  26. DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MAMA YOU MAMA TOO

    the 2 pigs are up...

    December 5, 2012 at 12:33 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  27. ;p; 3 MORE FOR FOR YOU

    mental problems as have been analyzed

    December 5, 2012 at 12:32 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  28. DAS RIGHT YOU MAMA PUNK

    job was out of sorts with reality

    December 5, 2012 at 12:31 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  29. YO MAMA RIGHT BACK YO FACE...

    job was strange

    December 5, 2012 at 12:30 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  30. YO MAMA RIGHT BACK TO YOU

    job has bad esteem

    December 5, 2012 at 12:28 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  31. Yo Mama

    I keep seeing headlines for "Weak Jobs Reports". I can only assume that this is what they are referring to.

    December 5, 2012 at 12:27 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  32. Jane

    i've seen 2 of his speeches..i could not take my eyes of of him because he was so intelligent..i did not a psycho energy from him but i did get depression....when it came to his work...he was the greatest.

    December 5, 2012 at 11:23 am | Report abuse | Reply
  33. Roscoe Chait

    "'jOBS' is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently." In other words, the movie is a lie. I've been reading Jobs' biography and it's clear that Jobs may have been brilliant, but was also a disgusting, abusive and psychopathic human being.

    December 5, 2012 at 11:16 am | Report abuse | Reply
  34. Hi Jeff.

    No it was not.

    December 5, 2012 at 11:11 am | Report abuse | Reply
  35. JeffinIL

    Steve Jobs 2.0 looks like Ashton Kutcher. Was that in the original design plans?

    December 5, 2012 at 11:09 am | Report abuse | Reply
  36. He is respected by all...

    we love him...donny is still my favorite guy...i wish he could see me get my trophy at waterslides...sigh.

    December 5, 2012 at 10:29 am | Report abuse | Reply
  37. Meh

    I didnt even like his acting in camera commecials

    December 5, 2012 at 10:25 am | Report abuse | Reply
  38. I love me.

    Ashton i wish you were able to come to my luncheon this week. i know you would have had fun.

    December 5, 2012 at 10:07 am | Report abuse | Reply
  39. BadHobbit

    Typical Hollywood fubar, cast a mental midget as a genius. Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was another winner.

    December 5, 2012 at 10:03 am | Report abuse | Reply
  40. Ashton is not a good actor

    He will not be able to pull it off...

    December 5, 2012 at 9:45 am | Report abuse | Reply
  41. may not pull it off...

    its not that easy anymore

    December 5, 2012 at 9:43 am | Report abuse | Reply
  42. Lale

    Ashton might pull it off; he is one good actor.

    December 5, 2012 at 9:35 am | Report abuse | Reply
    • Peter Fasolino

      Are you serious, Lale? He is absolutely the worst actor on TV. ANd the highest paid? It's not even worth mentioning his name which would give him free publicity. He has the fury of a caged mouse. Just boggles the mind to give this man any respect. His biggest success was sleeping with Demi moore and getting press for it. Christsakes.

      December 5, 2012 at 10:25 am | Report abuse |
  43. i understand -- but that means nothing to him

    when you type your name in that little box on the left....to the outside world that is your name which indicates that is you which then causes howls of laughter from the outside world.

    December 5, 2012 at 9:31 am | Report abuse | Reply
  44. ph

    There appears to be a wave of enthusiasm in calling this guy a dou chebag

    December 5, 2012 at 9:25 am | Report abuse | Reply
    • Yo Mama

      And for good reason – Kutcher has a natural talent for playing dou chebags.

      December 5, 2012 at 10:05 am | Report abuse |
    • not anymore...

      :)

      December 5, 2012 at 10:09 am | Report abuse |
  45. Fat phuck indicates you have no self esteem...

    don't do that.

    December 5, 2012 at 9:10 am | Report abuse | Reply
  46. GREENMEANSLISTENING

    Ashton is immature...Mr. Jobs was ahead of time.

    December 5, 2012 at 9:01 am | Report abuse | Reply
  47. redlightmeanswatching

    i love ashton he's a wonderful actor.

    December 5, 2012 at 8:59 am | Report abuse | Reply
  48. ken svenson

    I love love love ashton gobble his wobble and no spit sweetie cakes yum

    December 5, 2012 at 8:47 am | Report abuse | Reply
  49. Timme62

    Lousy actor.....

    December 5, 2012 at 8:39 am | Report abuse | Reply
  50. fat phuck

    aside from amanda seyfrieds bulging eyes we can watch her throat bulge too! god bless!

    December 5, 2012 at 8:34 am | Report abuse | Reply
    • dont call yourself a fat phuck

      your not a fat phuck silly be positive

      December 5, 2012 at 9:02 am | Report abuse |
  51. HN

    Hope he is better a serious roles than comedy.

    December 5, 2012 at 8:08 am | Report abuse | Reply
  52. Gamble

    carefull ashton i would make sure your making the right decision

    December 5, 2012 at 5:12 am | Report abuse | Reply
  53. TimR

    Naw dont be fooled thats really Steve who faked his death and posing as Ashton Kutcher but, IMHO, he looks more like cross eyed Worf giving us the evil eye lol

    December 5, 2012 at 4:25 am | Report abuse | Reply
  54. Fake

    Jobs, Jobs and more Jobs. Take cover! The unnessary avalanche of jobspocalypstic movies has begun...

    December 5, 2012 at 1:46 am | Report abuse | Reply
  55. ready

    I wonder if this will show what a dick Jobs was like Pirates of Silicon Valley did.

    December 5, 2012 at 12:42 am | Report abuse | Reply
  56. Mr. Lee

    I will not be watcing the movie. I am no fan of Ashton. However, Steve Jobs is a Bos$, he made the I stuff. Ipod, Iphone, Ipad(not a woman`s hygine product. lol) I remeber when he came out with the Macintosh computers. Even Bill Gates had respect for him.I wonder if he were still alive, if he would develope a console gameing system like Xbox, or Playstation. It would probably be good. What do you think?

    December 5, 2012 at 12:42 am | Report abuse | Reply
  57. Papo

    Awesome, let's keep glorifying the lives of computer nerds and making them into dashing superheroes bangin' chicks left and right, ala The Social Network. I'm sure this will be a realistic portrayal. And can we all just finally hop off of Jobs' pole? He was a clever marketer who took pre-existing products and made them appeal to hipsters. No innovation whatsoever, and was apparently not too friendly a guy. "Must Miss".

    December 5, 2012 at 12:35 am | Report abuse | Reply
    • JeramieH

      I'm a computer nerd but I agree 100%

      December 5, 2012 at 1:11 pm | Report abuse |
    • Margaret Kim Ian

      i love computers also and i also agree 100%

      December 5, 2012 at 1:14 pm | Report abuse |
  58. Dakotah

    Why do they have an IBM 'think' poster in the background?! Someone didn't do basic research.

    December 4, 2012 at 11:17 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • pc

      The photo is actually a recreation of a famous Jobs pic. Research it yourself via basic google search.

      December 5, 2012 at 4:15 am | Report abuse |
  59. Mykel Armory

    I dun reckon we see an ass playing an ass. i do. i do.

    December 4, 2012 at 10:51 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  60. Mykel Armory

    I reckon we see an ass playing an ass. i do. i do.

    December 4, 2012 at 10:50 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  61. Ball

    Nate Dhamers wears women's eyewear.

    December 4, 2012 at 10:36 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  62. think twice

    must be the same person who cast lindsey lohan as elizabeth taylor...not even close

    December 4, 2012 at 9:21 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  63. Richard Krupski

    Noah Wyle played a great Steve Jobs in Pirates of Silicon Vally.

    December 4, 2012 at 8:30 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  64. Philip

    I tried to paste a photo of Steve Jobs that they apparently recreated with Ashton Kutcher. I couldnt. However, if you want to see it, just type "young steve jobs" into google or yahoo images and you will see it. As far as looking like him, its pretty good. I'm not going to tell you that Kutcher is Laurence Olivier, but maybe he does a Paul Reubens in "Blow" and totally nails it.

    December 4, 2012 at 7:36 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  65. Happy Holidays To All!!

    Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
    had a very shiny nose.
    And if you ever saw him,
    you would even say it glows.

    All of the other reindeer
    used to laugh and call him names.
    They never let poor Rudolph
    join in any reindeer games.

    Then one foggy Christmas Eve
    Santa came to say:
    "Rudolph with your nose so bright,
    won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

    Then all the reindeer loved him
    as they shouted out with glee,
    Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
    you'll go down in history!

    December 4, 2012 at 7:12 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  66. sockpuppet1984

    I love it when a couple of 'tards try to correct each others' grammar

    December 4, 2012 at 7:11 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  67. someone

    that's so 70's...

    December 4, 2012 at 7:06 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • Bob

      ...except of course the picture it's based on was taken in the '80s.

      December 4, 2012 at 8:42 pm | Report abuse |
  68. ernest monvalon

    lot of kiss from a worldwide unknown performer from a nokia mobile. i work on my lyrics with wave format. aiff files are a joke.

    December 4, 2012 at 6:51 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  69. Johan S

    Yes he was a genius and sure he made billions by making computers more human, and smartphones easier to use & better looking. But if only he had used his talents to find a cure for cancer.

    Hmm, well I guess he sort of did do that.

    December 4, 2012 at 6:36 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  70. TJ

    It's all about what star can bring in the big box office bucks. How else can you explain Lenny Kravitz playing Marvin Gaye vice Jesse L. Martin??

    December 4, 2012 at 6:34 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  71. Really?

    Keanu Reeves or John Cusak would be a million times better!!

    December 4, 2012 at 6:29 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  72. KED

    He doesn't need either a comma or an apostrophe. He simply has mistakenly typed "are" instead of "all."

    December 4, 2012 at 6:05 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  73. ccw

    well, I can see Ashton as Jobs because physically they are similar...who knows he may pull it off....not any worse than Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher

    December 4, 2012 at 6:03 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  74. ChristopherM

    Casting Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs is like casting Honey Boo Boo as Hilary Clinton or Jaleel White as Martin Luther King. Ugh.

    December 4, 2012 at 5:35 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  75. Aaron

    If they're going for making an epicly bad movie, this might be a real winner.

    December 4, 2012 at 5:26 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  76. he's cute but that facial hair ugh

    -

    December 4, 2012 at 5:03 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  77. Thinks2010

    It has always amazed me that anyone hires Ashton Kutcher for a role. He has not talent and no looks.

    December 4, 2012 at 5:02 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  78. dubya

    Holy cow he looks just like Ashton Kutcher. Always. Looks.

    December 4, 2012 at 5:00 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  79. I hope he will

    be on the next Honey D oo D oo episode.

    December 4, 2012 at 4:40 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  80. This is a tough role for him

    I'm not sure if he can handle it.

    December 4, 2012 at 3:10 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  81. Clubfoot McShottyFace

    What an insult to Jobs' name. Looks nothing like him. Looks like Ashie with a bad beard and a pot-belly.

    December 4, 2012 at 3:03 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  82. dude

    seriously, use a god damn Comma

    December 4, 2012 at 2:55 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  83. sself

    ashton is a hot papi

    December 4, 2012 at 1:44 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  84. pathetic

    I'm assuming the next James Bond will also be played by Ashton Kutcher... and then the next Mission Impossible has Ashton Kutcher... and then Star Wars... etc...

    Ashton Kutcher is really NOT that good.

    December 4, 2012 at 1:40 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  85. snore nuff nuff

    come on south

    December 4, 2012 at 12:19 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  86. Sure nuff

    Looks like Ashton Kutcher.

    December 4, 2012 at 12:17 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  87. WOW

    This movie is gonna be t urdalicious.

    December 4, 2012 at 12:10 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  88. WOW

    D oooo D ooooo

    December 4, 2012 at 12:09 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  89. TimR

    now thats real dirty mr sanchez now do us all a favor and trip and fall face first on top of your stinking pile of poo lol

    December 5, 2012 at 4:17 am | Report abuse | Reply

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