The second Steve Jobs film didn't fare much better than the first. Steve Jobs, Academy Award winner Danny Boyle's take on the late Apple founder's life and legacy, opened 7th at the US box office with a lackluster $7.3 million last weekend. In contrast Jobs, the Ashton Kutcher fronted version of the iPod creator's life, took in $6.7 million when it opened in 2013.
Analysts were expecting bigger things from this rendition. Aside from Boyle's direction, the film counted fellow Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin as screenwriter and featured a cast of critical heavyweights such as Kate Winslet, Jonah Hill, Jeff Daniels, and Michael Fassbender in the title role.
Early returns for the film were optimistic. Earlier this month, it set the highest per-screen average of the year when it raked in $130,236 from four screens in its limited run. However, that success failed to translate during the national rollout. The film's $7.3 million gross on 2,400 screens is surely a disappointment when some speculators had it pegged to open closer to $20 million.
According to Variety, the movie cost $30 million to make and around to the same amount to promote; so a $120 million gross is necessary for its distributor, Universal, to break even.
The magazine attributes some of the film's struggles to Fassbender's casting. Though without a doubt a captivating performer, the 38 year-old has yet to prove he can be the face behind a commercially successful film.
Regardless, the film is still a huge critical success with a 'certified fresh' Rotten Tomatoes rating of 85%. Fassbender's name is also likely to be in the conversation for all the best actor races; which could give the film additional buzz as the award shows near.
For now though, it looks likw Steve Jobs isn't quite the chart-topper many were hoping for.