Ashton Kutcher to play Steve Jobs in biopic

Ashton Kutcher has been cast to play Apple Inc. visionary Steve Jobs in an upcoming biopic, according to a report.

Theindependent film, called Jobs, will follow the entrepreneur's life from his time as a hippie to co-founder of Apple Inc.,Variety reports.

The film is based on a script by Matt Whiteley and will be directed by Joshua Michael Stern, who directed Swing Vote, it added.

Kutcher is known for his previous role as "Kelso" on That 70's Show and for his large twitter presence, with more than 10 million followers.

The American actorrecentlyreplaced Charlie Sheen on the long-running television show Two and a Half Men.

Production for the Jobs film isexpected to start in May while Kutcher is on hiatus fromthe hit series, Variety said.

Jobs has been credited with revolutionizing technology through his design, marketing and creation of personal computers and mobile devices, such as the ubiquitous and popular iPhone, iPad and iPod.

He diedon Oct. 5,2011, at age 56.

Jobs'sstoried career followed a remarkable series of twists and turns from a meteoric rise in the late 1970s and '80s to a bleak nadir in the 1990s followed by his ascent to the status of tech guru.

Described by some as arrogant, temperamental and brutally honest about employee performance, Jobs was known and respected for his business acumen and an almost mystical ability to predict where tech trends were headed and what people wanted.