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.
Civil rights groups call on major corporations to stick with DEI programs
A broad group of civil rights organizations called on the CEOs and board members of major companies Thursday to maintain their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack online and in lawsuits.
An open letter signed by 19 organizations and directed at the leaders of Fortune 1000 companies said companies that abandon their DEI programs are shirking their fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders.
The civil rights groups included the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, policies, and practices make business-sense and they're broadly popular among the public, consumers, and employees," their statement read. "But a small, well-funded, and extreme group of right-wing activists is attempting to pressure companies into abandoning their DEI programs."
Companies such as Ford, Lowes, John Deere, Molson Coors and Harley-Davidson recently announced they would pull back on their diversity, equity and inclusion policies after facing pressure from conservative activists who were emboldened by recent victories in the courtroom.
Many major corporations have been examining their diversity programs in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last year that declared race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions unconstitutional. Dozens of cases have been filed making similar arguments about employers. Critics of DEI programs say the initiatives provide benefits to people of one race or sexual orientation while excluding others.
In their letter, the civil rights organizations, which also included... Read More