It appears that the first actor that was mentioned in connection with Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic may be the one that comes away with the role.  David Fincher was initially flirting with the idea of reteaming with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin on the project, but the filmmaker would reportedly only sign on if Christian Bale played the genius innovator.  Fincher’s deal with Sony never materialized and he walked away from the project, with Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire helmer Danny Boyle subsequently signing on to direct.  Another reteaming started to bubble as Leonardo DiCaprio considered signing on to the project, but we recently learned that he opted to depart due to the short amount of time he would have to prepare after wrapping The Revenant.

While names like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were mentioned as possible replacements, things have come full circle as Bale is currently in negotiations to take on the role.  More after the jump.

THR reports that Sony is beginning negotiations with Bale to lead the untitled Steve Jobs biopic.  Bale was looking to take on the role of Travis McGee in Fox’s The Deep Blue Good-By as his next project, but when Fox started trying to include sequel options in his contract, he balked.  Bale’s deal is still being worked out for Deep Blue Goodbye but it will take more time than previously thought, and so now he intends to shoot the Steve Jobs film before diving into Deep Blue Good-By.

The Steve Jobs movie will be a curious one, as Aaron Sorkin has written a uniquely structured screenplay made up of only three 30-minute scenes all set right before three major product launches.  The products that will be featured are The Mac, NeXT, and the iPod.  These scenes will play out in real time, and so Bale has quite a challenge ahead of him.  The guy’s kind of insanely talented, though, so I imagine he’ll blow us all away with his portrayal of Jobs when the film finally hits theaters.

This project has been in the works at Sony for some time now, and they have to be relieved to finally have their star and director.  Fincher has always had a knack for casting, and though he’s not involved with the Steve Jobs project anymore, I’d say the guy deserves some credit for the idea of casting Bale in the lead.  I’m very curious to see what Boyle does with this film, though.  I liked Trance more than most and the 28 Days Later filmmaker has a knack for ambitious visuals, so marrying that to Sorkin’s script—which is essentially a play—should make for a fascinating combination.