Cristian Bale is eyeing the role of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
The 40-year-old English actor is in talks to play the charismatic tech genius who gave the world the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone in Sony’s upcoming biopic, The Times has confirmed. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news.
Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting”) is directing the film, which may be called “Jobs,” from a script by Aaron Sorkin, who won a screenwriting Oscar for the Facebook drama “The Social Network” (released by Sony in 2010).
Sorkin’s screenplay is based on Walter Isaacson’s bestselling biography “Steve Jobs,” acquired by Sony around the time of Jobs’ death in October 2011.
The film has had a few twists and turns: Leonardo DiCaprio previously circled the Jobs role but ultimately passed, and “Gone Girl” director David Fincher was in talks to helm the film at one point.
Bale and Boyle are set to shoot the film in spring 2015. Sorkin said that writing a film about Jobs “is a little like writing about the Beatles. There are so many people out there that know him and revere him.”
