Christian Bale is reportedly in negotiations to play Steve Jobs in Sony's biographical movie about the late Apple co-founder.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Sony has set its sights back on the 40-year-old Oscar-winning actor after Leonardo DiCaprio broke off talks with the film studio less than two weeks ago. The "American Psycho" star was originally eyed for the role back when David Fincher was in negotiations to helm the biopic.
DiCaprio, 39, dropped out of the running to take time off from acting, Variety reported.
It seems that Bale has got the edge over competitors like Bradley Cooper and Matt Damon to nab the role because compared to the other rumored actors, the "Dark Knight Rises" star appeared to have a little less packed schedule, according to Screen Rant.
Bale is attached to voice Bagheera in Andy Serkis' "Jungle Book: Origins," but that film is still in pre-production and won't open in theaters until 2016, so filming schedule should not be an issue.
The yet-to-be titled biopic is based on Walter Isaacson's biography "Steve Jobs," which is adapted to screen by Aaron Sorkin.
Sorkin has previously said in public that the upcoming movie will be divided into three long scenes, each taking place backstage before one of Apple's famous product launches.
"The first one being the Mac," the Oscar-winning writer told the Daily Beast. "The second one being NeXT, after he had left Apple. And the third one being the iPod."
"It's a little like writing about the Beatles," explained Sorkin, whose writing credits include "The Newsroom," "Moneyball" and "The Social Network.""There are so many people out there that know him and revere him."
Meanwhile, Bale is still negotiating for the Travis McGee film "The Deep Blue Goodbye" at Fox. Sources told Variety that talks hit a roadblock because the actor was not interested in doing a sequel to project while Fox wanted one.
But even if a deal is reached for the "The Deep Blue Goodbye," the Bale would first shoot the Steve Jobs biopic project before the McGee flick, sources told THR.