UPDATE: It looks like Christian Bale is out. Discussions never reached a stage where anything was made official, but Variety reports that director Danny Boyle is no longer speaking to Bale about the film’s title role.
ORIGINAL POST: With Christian Bale pegged to play Steve Jobs in the upcoming biopic of the Apple co-founder directed by Danny Boyle, it was only a matter of time before the studio found someone to play the other half of the original Apple Computer duo, Steve Wozniak. Jobs, which is based on author Walter Isaacson’s biography of the high-profile Apple CEO, will feature Seth Rogen as the brilliant engineer popularly known as “Woz.”
Variety reports that Rogen will play opposite Bale in the film, with Jessica Chastain also being eyed for an unspecified role. Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The West Wing) penned the screenplay for the film.
The official description of the film is as follows:
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.
Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.
Sorkin has indicated that the film will unfold around three major set pieces — each corresponding to a famous Apple product launch. There’s no release date set for the film at this point.
Previously, Ashton Kutcher played Jobs in a 2013 biopic directed by Joshua Michael Stern that covered the time period between 1974 and 2001. Josh Gad played Wozniak in that film, which failed to win over audiences or critics.
