"Variety" (http://macte.ch/0YNRI) reports that Ashton Kutcher is slated to play the late Steve Jobs in the indie pic, "Jobs," which Joshua Michael Stern ("Swing Vote") will direct from a script by Matt Whiteley.

The article says the film will chronicle Jobs from "wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of our time." Five Star Institute's Mark Hulme is financing and will produce the pic, which is skedded to start production in May while Kutcher is on hiatus from his "Two and a Half Men" CBS series.

"Jobs" is the second movie based on the life of Jobs that's in the works. Sony Pictures is currently developing its own Steve Jobs pic, based on the bestselling book by Walter Isaacson.