Like a typical Batman, just when we were all turning around to celebrate or say something profound, Christian Bale has vanished from the scene. The scene in this case being director Danny Boyle’s (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire) planned Steve Jobs biopic, which Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, West Wing, The Newsroom) is scripting. After the lackluster effort that was the Ashton Kutcher starring jObs, Bale, Boyle and Sorkin was a dream team that almost sounded too good to be true. And now it is.
THR, who first broke the news that Bale was going to take on the role of the Apple impresario, is now reporting that the Dark Knight star has decided that he is not right for the part after considerable hemming and hawing over it. That’s right folks, we now live in a world where Christian Bale is not right to play Steve Jobs but Kelso from That 70’s Show is. With Seth Rogen also recently being attached to play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, production was expected to start on the film shortly, but now Boyle and co will have to do some scrambling to get somebody to fill Bale’s talented shoes.
And it looks like they’ve scrambled real well and already found some matching feet belonging to Michael Fassbender. Deadline is reporting that the Oscar nominated actress is being considered, while Variety is stating that he’s already in early talks to play the late Apple boss. If there’s one thing that Kutcher had going for him, it was his strong physical resemblance to Jobs, and so too could Bale – with his well documented chameleonic skills – make a decent doppelganger. Fassbender on the other hand is not the most obvious choice from a physical perspective, but there’s nobody who can deny his incredible acting talents.
The thought of him tackling a divise, abrasive cultural icon like Steve Jobs, guided by the masterminds of Danny Boyle and Aaron Sorkin is an incredibly enticing scenario. Jobs’ sometimes volatile personality is well documented, and would offer Fassbender plent of meat to sink his thespian teeth into.
Sorkin’s script for the still untitled film will be an adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s biography “Steve Jobs”, which took a three-pronged look at Jobs’ life, specifically focusing on the respective launches of the Mac, NeXT and iPod.
Last Updated: November 5, 2014
