☆ 1940 ☆
Edison, The Man
Thomas Edison
NEWSCOM
Three months after Mickey Rooney starred in Young Tom Edison in 1940, Spencer Tracy portrayed the Wizard of Menlo Park in Edison, The Man. The film, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story (but not Best Screenplay), earned nearly $1.8 million at the box office (or around $42 million today).
☆ 2004 ☆
The Aviator
Howard Hughes
NEWSCOM
Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed biopic also focused on Hughes’ years as a movie producer—and was rewarded with 11 Academy Award nominations (it won five). While Leonardo DiCaprio did not win for his portrayal of Hughes, the movie grossed $213 million at the box office ($365 million today)— or about .02% of what Hughes was worth when he died in 1976 (adjusting for inflation).
☆ 2010 ☆
The Social Network
Mark Zuckerberg
NEWSCOM
Aaron Sorkin won an Oscar for his 2010 screenplay about the early days of Facebook, and Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for Best Actor for his performance as mercurial founder Zuckerberg. You know what’s cooler than a movie about your life? Two movies. As a follow-up to The Social Network—which grossed $224 million at the box office ($333 million today)—Sorkin is writing and directing The Social Reckoning, starring Succession’s Jeremy Strong as Zuckerberg. That film will be released in October.
☆ 2013 ☆
Jobs
Steve Jobs
NEWSCOM
Like Edison, Jobs inspired two biopics. First was 2013’s Jobs (with Ashton Kutcher in the title role), which grossed $42.1 million (about $58 million today). Two years later, Aaron Sorkin returned to Silicon Valley to write the screenplay for Steve Jobs (starring Michael Fassbender), but it didn’t fare any better at the box office, grossing just $34.4 million.
☆ 2016 ☆
The Founder
Ray Kroc
NEWSCOM
Kroc wasn’t actually the founder of McDonald’s— that would be brothers Dick and Mac McDonald— but that didn’t stop Hollywood from making a movie about how Kroc transformed the brand as their visionary franchise agent. The Golden Arches didn’t inspire much box-office gold, however: The Founder grossed a modest $24 million (or $32 million today).
☆ 2020 ☆
Tesla
Nikola Tesla
ALAMY
The polymath electrical (and wireless) genius isn’t as famous as his rival Thomas Edison, but he still warranted a biopic starring Ethan Hawke. Tesla the movie shorted out at the box office (earning less than $500,000), but Tesla the man can take comfort in having an electric car named for him.
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