Despite stellar reviews and Oscar buzz, Michael Fassbender‘s “Steve Jobs” flopped at the U.S. box office, and director Danny Boyle has one idea as to why it failed to take off.
“It’s very disappointing that when it was released wide across America it didn’t really work, so it’s retreated back now to the main cities,” Boyle told the BBC after the biopic about the late Apple CEO was pulled from 2,000 screens. “It’s very easy in hindsight, but I think it’s probably that we released it too wide too soon.”
“Steve Jobs” opened in limited release in just four theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 9 and did well, averaging over $130,000 per venue. When it went wide on Oct. 23, the interest waned along with its revenue, and Boyle thinks Universal “should have built more slowly.”
Boyle, who won an Oscar for directing “Slumdog Millionaire,” declined to criticize the studio for its distribution strategy.
“I think [they] are genuinely very proud of the film,” he said of Universal, which picked up the project after Sony dropped it. “Yeah, sure, you might have done it in a different way … but you know, you’ve got to get on now.”
“And actually you hope that people will still find the film. Because I think those that do obviously find it very rewarding.”
“Steve Jobs” was written by Aaron Sorkin and starred Fassbender, Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet and Jeff Daniels.