Danny Boyle Expresses Disappointment At How 'Steve Jobs' Has Been Received By The Public

Director Danny Boyle has expressed his dismay at the much-publicised box office failure of his new movie Steve Jobs after it failed to attract its anticipated audience, with the news that Universal has withdrawn it from over 2,000 screens in the U.S.

The 59 year old maestro was talking to the BBC ahead of the troubled movie’s release in Britain on Friday (November 13th). Despite the favourable reviews it received, it opened in a lowly seventh place two weekends ago, taking just $7.3 million from 2,493 locations. The studio reacted by dramatically scaled that number back to only 421 screens, and Boyle admitted that they had gone “too wide too soon” and should have built up more slowly from its limited release on October 9th.

“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 said in reaction. “It's very easy in hindsight, but I think it's probably that we released it too wide too soon.”

More: Universal drops ‘Steve Jobs’ film from over 2,000 American cinemas

However, Boyle refused to blame Universal Pictures for the underperformance, recounting the difficult journey the movie had to go through to get made in the first place.

“The history of the film is we were dropped by Sony,” he reminded everyone, “and Universal have been exemplary in the way they've stood up for the film, promoted [it] and supported us throughout the whole process - and I think are genuinely very proud of the film.”

Steve Jobs tells the story of Apple’s foundation and early years, up to the launch of the iMac in 1998. Michael Fassbender plays the titular role, and has been an early tip for an Oscar nomination, with co-stars Kate Winslet and Seth Rogen also winning praise.

Boyle did add that he was optimistic that viewers who actually did watch the film enjoyed it. “[I] hope that people will still find the film - because I think those that do obviously find it very rewarding.”

More: For Michael Fassbender, playing Steve Jobs was a no-brainer