SpaceX, Twitter and electric automobile maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk, attends a US Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Insight Forum on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2023.
Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
Possibly the most popular query in Hollywood straight away is: Who will play Elon Musk?
News broke Friday that hot-ticket indie studio A24 snagged the rights to film Walter Isaacson’s biography of the controversial billionaire Tesla and SpaceX chief. NBC News reported that the agreement got here after a highly competitive bidding war involving multiple studios and filmmakers.
As if that weren’t head-turning enough – A24, which dominated last 12 months’s Oscars, is popular amongst film buffs for edgy fare like “Midsommar” and “Refer to Me” – Darren Aronofsky is attached to direct the biopic.
The possibility to play such a divisive figure as Musk could be catnip to most actors anyway. But the prospect to work with Aronofsky is probably going an added bonus. His ambitious movies often demand actors go to award-show-worthy extremes, giving him a terrific track record of steering performers to Oscar nominations and wins.
Earlier this 12 months, Brendan Fraser won best actor for his role as a reclusive and depressed professor in Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” while Hong Chau received a best supporting actress nomination. In 2011, Natalie Portman won best actress for the director’s psychological ballet drama “Black Swan.” Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei were each nominated in 2009 for “The Wrestler.” Before that, Ellen Burstyn was nominated for best 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 Festival Hall in the course of the 66th BFI London Film Festival in London, United Kingdom on October 11, 2022.
Wiktor Szymanowicz | Future Publishing | Getty Images
However the Oscar mojo would not belong entirely to Aronofsky.
Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography supplied the source material for the 2015 Danny Boyle film of the identical name, which netted Michael Fassbender a best actor nomination for enjoying the late Apple mastermind. One other polarizing tech figure, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was the topic of David Fincher’s 2010 drama, “The Social Network,” which led to star Jesse Eisenberg snagging a best actor nomination.
It stays to be seen who will find yourself getting the Musk role, which can draw more scrutiny than most casting decisions in Hollywood, given the billionaire’s outspoken and provocative presence on social media. Aronofsky’s protagonists also are likely to be irreparably flawed and self-destructive.
In the intervening time, though, Musk appears glad with the best way it’s going. “Glad Darren is doing it. He’s probably the greatest,” he posted on his platform X, formerly often known as Twitter.
CNBC has asked Musk about whom he’d wish to see play him within the movie.
