Universal picks up Steve Jobs film project from Sony

Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures is picking up plans to produce a film biography of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs less than a week after Sony Corp. gave up on the movie.

Universal acquired the project, based on the Walter Isaacson biography "Steve Jobs," from Sony, Kori Bernards, a Universal spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. The studio declined to comment on the terms of the transaction.

The script is being co-written by Aaron Sorkin, who won an Oscar for writing the screenplay of "The Social Network." Last week, the film unit of Tokyo-based Sony to dropped plans for the movie. The producers had wanted to press ahead on a faster schedule than the studio could accommodate, a person familiar with the plans said at the time.

Jean Guerin, a spokeswoman for Sony Pictures, declined to comment on the deal. The studio acquired the rights after Jobs' death in 2011. The Hollywood reporter first reported the agreement with Universal Pictures.

The movie project has seen various changes recently in the lineup of its cast and production team. Danny Boyle, director of the Oscar winning "Slumdog Millionaire," is attached to the project, after it had initially been linked to David Fincher, who directed "The Social Network."

Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale have both been considered for the role of Jobs, with Michael Fassbender most recently reported in talks for the part, according to Deadline.com.