As the source is somewhat less than airtight, you should probably take the following with the biggest grain of salt you can get your hands on — but on the off chance there's some truth to it, this rumor is too wild not to repeat. A new report claims that George Clooney and Noah Wyle are vying for the lead role in the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, which is being developed at Sony based on Walter Isaacson's bestselling biography. More details after the jump.
The story comes from the UK tabloid The Sun (via Cult of Mac), which reports that the former ER co-stars are competing against each other to play the late Apple co-founder. There probably aren't many times I'd vote for Wyle over Clooney, but in this case Wyle actually seems like the better choice. For one thing, he's already played Jobs once, in 1999′s Pirates of Silicon Valley. (Joey Slotnick also starred, as Steve Wozniak, while Anthony Michael Hall played Bill Gates.) For another, while I'm usually in favor of casting Clooney in just about anything, the suave leading man seems like an odd fit for Jobs' charismatic but prickly demeanor.
Of course, one very likely outcome is that it'll turn out this entire report is BS and it'll turn out that neither actor was ever seriously considered for the role. That the studio would be eyeing Clooney seems somewhat believable, if only because the biopic is bound to be big and Clooney's the kind of huge movie star they might want on their top-tier team. But I'd be very surprised if the powers that be tapped Wyle — who's doing just fine, but is hardly the first guy you turn to when you're loking for A-list talent — to reprise his Pirates of Silicon Valley role. In any case, Sony's scrambling to get the project together quickly, so expect to hear more casting rumors flying around in the coming weeks. Who do you think would be a good fit to play the tech legend?
Just for kicks, here's a video of Wyle doing his best Jobs at the 1999 Macworld expo:
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