He was believed to be in. Then he basically bowed out (when the director he was paired with exited the project). Now reports have Christian Bale back in the conversation to play the late tech guru Steve Jobs for a planned biopic.
The Dark Knight star is in negotiations to play Steve Jobs in a biopic that will be directed by Danny Boyle. The 127 Hours director reportedly wanted to reteam with Leonardo DiCaprio for the gig. The two worked on The Beach back in 2000, and have been looking for a project on which to collaborate. Variety now reports that Bale would like to shoot the picture in the Spring.
As if the idea of Christian Bale and Danny Boyle working on a movie wasn’t tantalizing enough, the duo will be adapting a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Social Network, Moneyball, A Few Good Men and television’s The West Wing. Sorkin has divided his Steve Jobs biopic into three main segments (which allegedly could play out as three long scenes that occur in real time). They are described to The Daily Beast as such:
There will be no time cuts. Each of these three scenes is going to take place before a product launch -- backstage before a product launch. The first one being the Mac, the second one being NeXT (after he had left Apple), and the third one being the iPod."
This sounds incredible. And technically challenging, but not to a filmmaker who spent the bulk of 127 Hours in a cave, with his leading man pinned under a rock. In fact, I’m calling it now. If Danny Boyle’s able to direct Christian Bale from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, I’m going to melt into a puddle in the theater, from sheer glee.
Keep in mind, though, that there have been attempts at telling Steve Jobs’ story on screen before:
But with no offense aimed at the likes of Ashton Kutcher, I’m thinking the legacy of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs is in slightly better hands with Danny Boyle, Christian Bale and Aaron Sorkin. The untitled Steve Jobs biopic likely will look to be in theaters by the middle to end of 2016, where it can contend for Oscars. Bale, meanwhile, can next be seen in Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, in theaters on December 12.
