Christian Bale Will Play Steve Jobs In Apple Founder Biopic

Christian Bale will play Steve Jobs in a biopic film about the Apple founder coming from Sony.

The film, written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, Moneyball, The Social Network) is Based on Walter Isaacson’s biography, Steve Jobs. According to Variety, the film will be directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire) and produced by Scott Rudin, Mark Gordon and Guymon Casady.

Aaron Sorkin has made it known that the film takes place in three long scenes, each taking place backstage before one of Apple’s major product launches. Sorkin told The Daily Beast that each of those scenes take place in real-time.

“…a half hour for you in the audience is the same as a half hour for the character on the screen. 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.”

Sorkin said that he was hesitant to take on a film with such an iconic main character.

“One of the hesitations I had in taking on the movie was that it’s a little like writing about The Beatles. There are so many people out there who know so much about him and who revere him. I saw a minefield of disappointment, frankly, that I was going to do something [wrong] and – hopefully when I’m done with my research I’ll be in the same ballpark of knowledge about Steve Jobs as so many people in this room are.”

The critically acclaimed screenwriter did have a leg up on others who have attempted to put Jobs on the screen, however; Sorkin had spoken with Jobs personally while Steve was still alive.

“We knew each other over the phone. He would call me from time to time out of the blue… The second to last time I spoke to him, he asked if I would help him with the Stanford commencement address.”

Considering Christian Bale’s last few major roles — that of Batman and his upcoming stint as Moses — it’s easy to forget how deep into a character Christian Bale can go. If you’ve seen The Machinist, you’re well aware of Bale’s psychotic willingness to transform himself physically for a role. Of course, that sort of transformation won’t quite be necessary for the Steve Jobs role, (he might need a turtleneck…) but it does point to Christian’s dedication.

What do you think? Will Christian Bale make a good Steve Jobs?

[image via Posh24 and IB Times]