‘Steve Jobs’ trailer: Sorkin, Fassbender search for core of Apple founder

With all the carefully managed hype of an Apple product launch, Universal Pictures has unveiled the latest trailer for “Steve Jobs,” offering a clearer look at Michael Fassbender in action as the late Apple co-founder than the coy teaser back in May.

The new promo for the Danny Boyle-directed film focuses on Jobs’ reputation as an enigmatic and imperious tech innovator, one whose passion and ego did not always endear him to his colleagues. In one scene backstage before a key product presentation, for example, Jobs demands that a software bug be rectified.

“We’re not a pit crew at Daytona,” Mac engineer Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg) tells him. “This can’t be fixed in seconds.”

INDIE FOCUS: Sign up for our weekly movies newsletter

“You didn’t have seconds,” an irate Jobs replies. “You had three weeks. The universe was created in a third of that time!”

“Well, someday you’ll have to tell us how you did it,” Hertzfeld jabs back.

Snappy dialogue like that — and glimpses of walk-and-talk shots — remind us that the script bears the imprimatur of Aaron Sorkin, who distilled the narrative from Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Jobs.

Sorkin previously found success with a fact-based tech drama in “The Social Network,” for which he won an Oscar for adapted screenplay. Even under ordinary circumstances, his teaming up with a high-profile director and a rising star to take on an outsize figure like Jobs would be enough to elevate expectations.

All eyes have been on “Steve Jobs,” however, since the film’s roller-coaster development process — which involved a protracted search for a leading man, a fractious back-and-forth between producer Scott Rudin and former Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, and a studio switch from Sony to Universal — was made public via leaked emails.

The big reveal will come Oct. 9, when “Steve Jobs” hits theaters.

Follow @ogettell for movie news