It was reported in late February that The Social Network director David Fincher could re-team with Aaron Sorkin to direct the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, but it now appears that will only happen if Christian Bale stars.
Update: Fincher is now out due to his high demands that Sony was unwilling to meet, says The Hollywood Reporter.
According to a source close to The Wrap, David Fincher has given an ultimatum for his involvement with the currently untitled Steve Jobs biopic written by Aaron Sorkin: either cast Christian Bale or find a different director.
There’s just one problem; Bale has yet to be approached for the role. That’s not to say that Bale couldn’t end up being cast as Jobs, but reportedly nothing has been done to make that happen yet. Bale is currently taking some time off after finishing filming the biblical epic Exodus.
When asked to comment, Sony declined to on the record. This seems to put some validity to the rumor, since they would probably just deny it if it were false. Bale’s representatives have not commented at this time.
Bale would be a prime candidate for the role of Jobs. Not only is he a perennial Oscar contender, but he bears much physical resemblance to the Apple co-founder.
If Bale does sign on for the role, the film would reunite Fincher and Sorkin, the duo that worked on The Social Network, a film that won three Oscars including Best Adapted Screenplay. Many argue that the film should have won more.
Sorkin had been working on the script for some time, but he recently finished writing it. Assuming the script hasn’t changed dramatically since Sorkin spoke about it back in November of 2012, it will be a highly unusual biopic.
“This entire movie is going to be three scenes, and three scenes only, that all take place in real time,” Sorkin said. The three scenes he plans on including will all be backstage of a product launch, those of “the Mac, the second one being NeXT (after he had left Apple) and the third one being the iPod.”