By Hilary Fox
LONDON (AP) --Danny Boyle admits "Steve Jobs" is a hard sell.
The film about the Apple co-founder got disappointing figures when it opened across the U.S., taking only $7.1 million on wide release despite critical acclaim and two successful preview weekends on limited release.
Boyle was surprised by the film's box office numbers but says he's not interested in taking the easy route when making movies.
"You try and make complex films, not simplistic films. You also want to make them highly pleasurable as well," the 59-year-old British director told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.
"We did brilliantly the first two weekends," he explained. "Then they went too wide too soon and that's a mistake. But hindsight experts are always around on Monday mornings."
The movie, starring Michael Fassbender as Jobs and Kate Winslet as his right-hand woman Joanna Hoffman, comes from a script by Aaron Sorkin. It is structured into three acts – each the run-up to launching a new tech product: the Macintosh in 1984, NeXT in 1988 and the iMac in 1998.
Considered an award-season heavyweight, the Oscar-winning Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire" 2008) is confident the film will find its audience and says he won't be shocked if Fassbender and Winslet feature high on the upcoming trophy circuit season.
"I've been very lucky to be involved with a lot of very good performances over the years, and this is on a different planet, I think. I mean Fassbender and Winslet – and Seth Rogan is just extraordinary in his playing (Apple engineer Steve) Wozniak – so yes, I'm very, very proud to be associated with them," he said.
"Steve Jobs" opens in the U.K. on Nov. 13.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More