He’s opened the 30th Olympics and now Danny Boyle is closing The 59th BFI London Film Festival. The director’s latest, Steve Jobs, has been picked to bring down the curtain on the 12-day celebration of cinema on October 18. It follows on from recent closers Fury and Saving Mr. Banks in delivering major stars, Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet among them, to the Leicester Square red carpet.
Boyle drew the connection between his new biopic and the themes of his Olympics jamboree in a statement. "If London was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution then San Francisco is the Bethlehem of the digital one,” said the director. “We had a brilliant time making this movie in Silicon Valley and I hope Londoners will enjoy a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the modern world. It's always special to bring work home so thanks to BFI London Film Festival for their continued support.”
“We are thrilled to announce that Steve Jobs will be this year’s closing night gala,” added BFI London Film Festival director Clare Stewart. “Danny Boyle has created an exhilarating and audacious film [about] the complex, charismatic digital pioneer."
Steve Jobs, though torturous in its development process, has taken smooth shape since then. Fassbender plays the Apple co-founder and tech pioneer in a story that focuses on three major events in the lifespan of his career, and in Apple’s growth: the creation of the Macintosh in 1984, NeXT in 1988 and the iMac launch in 1998. Seth Rogen is co-founder Steve Wozniak, with Jeff Bridges as Apple’s ex-CEO John Sulley and Winslet as Mac marketeer Joanna Hoffman. Katherine Waterston and Michael Stuhlbarg round out the cast.
If you can’t make the London Film Festival, which runs from October 7-18, Steve Jobs will be coming to you from November 13 in the UK.