Universal to release Steve Jobs biopic in theatres in October

[LOS ANGELES] Universal Pictures is steaming ahead with the Steve Jobs biopic it acquired after the producers had a falling out with Sony Pictures.

The film, based on the Walter Isaacson biography of Apple Inc.'s co-founder, will make its debut in theaters on Oct 9, according to a statement Wednesday by Universal, owned by Comcast Corp.

The film, directed by Danny Boyle, will star Michael Fassbender as Jobs and Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, the former Macintosh marketing chief. It's set behind the scenes of three product launches, ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, the studio said in a statement. Jobs died in 2011.

Universal acquired the film from Sony Pictures in November, after disagreements over casting between producer Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal, the Sony Corp.-owned studio's co-chairman. The spat was revealed in e-mail exchanges leaked by hackers in November.

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