Following in the footsteps of Joshua Michael Stern (Jobs) and Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs), viral video maker Funny or Die is poised to release a bio-pic based on the life of the Apple founder. iSteve stars Justin Long as Steve Jobs, an appropriate choice since the Dodgeball actor played the Mac in those Mac/PC commercials way back when. James Urbaniak as Bill Gates, Michaela Watkins as Melinda Gates, and Lost‘s Jorge Garcia as Steve Wozniak round out the cast.
Unlike the majority of FoD videos, iSteve will play out as if it were a theatrical movie; it’s 81 page script was written in three days and taped in five. The “film’s” writer and director Ryan Perez spoke with The New York Times about the project. “In true Internet fashion, it’s not based on very thorough research — essentially a cursory look at the Steve Jobs Wikipedia page. It’s very silly. But it looks at his whole life.” He added, “We might not be the best, but we will be the first.” Stern’s Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival but its nationwide release has been delayed; Sorkin’s Steve Jobs biopic doesn’t have a release date yet but is expected to come out sometime in 2013.
iSteve premieres at Funny or Die a week from this Monday on April 15. Catch the laugh-out-loud trailer here; “You’ve got to ride the wave of the future” … Justin Long as Steve Jobs: “What if I am the wave of the future?” Ha! When the parody releases in full you will find it here.