SpaceX, Twitter and electrical automobile maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk, attends a US Senate bipartisan Synthetic Intelligence (AI) Perception Discussion board on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2023.
Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Photographs
Perhaps the most popular query in Hollywood proper now could be: Who will play Elon Musk?
Information broke Friday that hot-ticket indie studio A24 snagged the rights to movie Walter Isaacson’s biography of the controversial billionaire Tesla and SpaceX chief. NBC Information reported that the settlement got here after a extremely aggressive bidding warfare involving a number of studios and filmmakers.
As if that weren’t head-turning sufficient – A24, which dominated final 12 months’s Oscars, is common amongst movie buffs for edgy fare like “Midsommar” and “Discuss to Me” – Darren Aronofsky is connected to direct the biopic.
The prospect to play such a divisive determine as Musk could be catnip to most actors anyway. However the probability to work with Aronofsky is probably going an added bonus. His bold motion pictures typically demand actors go to award-show-worthy extremes, giving him an excellent observe document of steering performers to Oscar nominations and wins.
Earlier this 12 months, Brendan Fraser received greatest actor for his position as a reclusive and depressed professor in Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” whereas Hong Chau obtained a greatest supporting actress nomination. In 2011, Natalie Portman received greatest actress for the director’s psychological ballet drama “Black Swan.” Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei had been each nominated in 2009 for “The Wrestler.” Earlier than that, Ellen Burstyn was nominated for greatest actress in 2001 for Aronofsky’s disturbing drug-addiction drama “Requiem for a Dream.”
Darren Aronofsky attends the UK Premiere of ‘The Whale’ on the Royal Competition Corridor through the 66th BFI London Movie Competition in London, United Kingdom on October 11, 2022.
Wiktor Szymanowicz | Future Publishing | Getty Photographs
However the Oscar mojo would not belong completely to Aronofsky.
Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography equipped the supply materials for the 2015 Danny Boyle movie of the identical identify, which netted Michael Fassbender a greatest actor nomination for taking part in the late Apple mastermind. One other polarizing tech determine, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was the topic of David Fincher’s 2010 drama, “The Social Community,” which led to star Jesse Eisenberg snagging a greatest actor nomination.
It stays to be seen who will find yourself getting the Musk position, which is able to draw extra scrutiny than most casting selections in Hollywood, given the billionaire’s outspoken and provocative presence on social media. Aronofsky’s protagonists additionally are typically irreparably flawed and self-destructive.
In the intervening time, although, Musk seems proud of the best way it is going. “Glad Darren is doing it. He is among the greatest,” he posted on his platform X, previously generally known as Twitter.
CNBC has requested Musk about whom he’d wish to see play him within the film.