It’s confirmed: Christian Bale, who transformed into a remarkably entertaining comb-over enthusiast in American Hustle, will play Steve Jobs in the upcoming bio-pic based on Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography, aptly titled Steve Jobs. The news comes directly from Aaron Sorkin, who’s writing the screenplay for the new movie.
“We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that’s Chris Bale,” Sorkin told Bloomberg Television. “He didn’t have to audition.”
And thus another Steve Jobs movie has a leading man. Noah Wyle did a fine job with Jobs in Pirates of Silicon Valley in 1999. Then Ashton Kutcher kutchered up Jobs in last year’s Jobs. Bale will begin shooting his role in the next couple of months, and the smart money says this new take on Jobs will actually be worth watching. Bale is a riveting actor, and Sorkin is a wonderful screenwriter who’s already elevated the mythos of Silicon Valley into something quite palatable via The Social Network.
The impact on you: Bale or not, you’ll still need to decide whether you have any more appetite for yet another dramatic recreation of Jobs. Because if you’re reading this article, you’re a technology enthusiast. You already know the legend of Steve Jobs—the humble beginnings, the birth of Apple, the return to Apple, the iPhone, the iPad, the quest for perfection, the turtlenecks, all of it.
So get ready for a very familiar tale. But, who knows, maybe the myth of Jobs will turn into something sort of like “A Christmas Carol,” a classic story that thrives on new interpretations. Hey, it works for the Batman legend, and we know Christian Bale kicked butt with that.
Author: Jon Phillips, Editor-in-Chief of PCWorld and TechHive
Jon has been covering all manner of consumer hardware since 1995. He brought the Bitchin'fast!3D2000 to market in 1999, and has ran MaximumPC, Mac|Life, Mobile, Greenbot and Macworld, among other consumer tech magazines and websites.