Skip to main content

Christian Bale exits the Steve Jobs biopic before he even landed the job

christian bale will play steve jobs
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Danny Boyle’s biopic of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is once again without a star after Christian Bale exited the project this week.

According to The Hollywood ReporterThe Dark Knight star decided he wasn’t the right person to play Jobs in the upcoming film, which was expected to begin shooting this winter. It’s unknown whether Bale’s departure will affect the recently announced casting of Seth Rogen as Jobs’ former business partner and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, which has yet to be confirmed.

Bale is the second actor to pass on the role after previous frontrunner Leonardo DiCaprio left the project in October.

“We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that’s Chris Bale,” said screenwriter Aaron Sorkin of Bale a few weeks ago. “He didn’t have to audition. Well, there was a meeting.”

Said to be structured around three of the high-profile presentations of Apple products that Jobs was famous for, the biopic’s script was penned by Sorkin and is based on Walter Isaacson’s 2013 biography of Jobs.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Everything leaving Netflix in May 2024
Russell Crowe and Guy Pierce as Bud and Exley looking into a car in L.A. Confidential.

Netflix is always at its best when it has a robust lineup of movies from other studios to go along with its original films. But in May, Netflix is going to lose a lot of great flicks, because several of its movies on loan from rival studios are going back home. This month, that includes L.A. Confidential, the first four Hunger Games movies, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and even Where the Crawdads Sing, which enjoyed a nearly 18-month run on Netflix following its theatrical release.

Fox's short-lived sitcom The Mick is also departing Netflix, which tends to shed movies more often than it does shows. But there is an upside to this month's content migration: May has a full 31 days and a holiday weekend. That should go a long way toward helping plan your movie nights so you can catch these films and shows before they depart.

Read more
Everything leaving Hulu in May 2024
Aaron Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking.

May is one of the longest months of the year, and Hulu subscribers may need all 31 days to catch some of their favorite movies before they leave at the end of the month. The brilliant satire Thank You For Smoking, the intense noir thriller L.A. Confidential, The Wrestler, Taken, Salt, Life of Pi, Scarface, and more are all on their way out of the door. Some of them have gone through this cycle before and come back to Hulu. But there's no guarantee that you'll see them again on this streaming service.

Right now, you have time to catch all of these films at your leisure. If you go through our list of everything leaving Hulu in May 2024, it should be easy start planning your movie nights in advance. Our favorite picks for the month are in bold.

Read more
Everything coming to PBS in May 2024
Suranne Jones and Eve Best in MaryLand.

Although the programming on PBS in May could look slight compared to April, remember that new episodes of Guilt and A Brief History of the Future will also premiere this month. The only drama series debuting in May is Maryland, a new British series that is making its American premiere on PBS. And if that's not enough drama for you, Great Performances will have feature new productions of Hamlet and Purlie Victorious.

Throughout the month, PBS will air multiple news, nature, and investigative reports as specials and standalone episodes. Near the end of May, music lovers can look forward to the National Memorial Day Concert 2024 and a tribute to the legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Read more