The Hollywood Reporter reported on Nov. 3 that sources close to Christian Bale confirmed that the Oscar Award-winning actor is no longer with the untitled Steve Jobs film to be directed by Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "Slumdog Millionaire"). 

Bale was the second high-profile actor (after Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio) to receive an offer from Sony to portray the Apple genius. While DiCaprio moved on to shoot "The Revenant," Bale is in pre-production for "Jungle Book: Origins" as the voice of Bagheera, a black jungle cat.  THR sources say that with some reflection and "conflicting feelings," Bale departed from the Boyle movie as he felt he was not right for the role of Jobs. Neither DiCaprio nor Bale had begun negotiations.

With a script by Aaron Sorkin and a production team that includes Guymon Casady, Mark Gordon and Scott Rudin, the film was fast-tracked to start shooting this winter with a quick turnaround, possibly with a release as early as the following Oscar season.

According to THR, the script split into three acts with Jobs preparing for three significant presentations that would come to "define his life as an inventor and the life of Apple, Inc. -- the company he co-founded, lost and came back to."

Sorkin confirmed to Bloomberg on Oct. 23 that Academy Award-winning actor Bale would star as the Father of the Digital Revolution, co-founder and former chairman of Apple, Steve Jobs.

"What we needed was the best actor. He really is a phenomenal actor," Sorkin said.

Sorkin also said Bale was at the height of his powers, much needed for this "extremely difficult part."

"He didn't have to audition," he added.

The upcoming biopic will be based on "Steve Jobs," the authorized memoir of Steve Jobs written by acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson before Job died in 2011 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. 

The movie is said to go in a differnt direction than 2013's "Jobs," which was directed by Joshua Michael Stern and starred Ashton Kutcher. "Jobs" followed the futurist inventor's journeys as a student at Reed College in 1974 to the introduction of the iPod in 2001.

A sneak peek, which was revealed by Conan O'Brien, shows Bale, who was last seen in the David O. Russell period crime film "American Hustle," conveying a gritty and sinister energy to the man behind Apple. Bale, a method actor, nails Jobs' trademark gruff, emotionless voice. This is a stark contrast to Kutcher's more energetic performance

At the helm is Sorkin, famous for work on the cult TV series "The West Wing" and winner of the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay  "The Social Network."

Bale, who is perhaps best known for playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy, will next be seen in Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings" out Dec. 12.