From The Machinist's skinny frame to Batman's stocky musculature, Christian Bale is famous for his fluctuating character waistlines as much as he is his acting chops. But even he has decided that the short amount of time allowed to balloon up to play the lead in Michael Mann's Enzo Ferrari biopic isn't enough, and he's dropped out of the project.
Bale deciding not to go all Mr. Creosote in preparation to play the bigger Ferrari is something of a blow to Mann, who has been developing the film for years and finally seemed to be gaining traction when he locked Bale down to star. Still, undeterred, he's now talking to heavier actors who wouldn't necessarily need to bulk up to take the role ready for shooting in a few months.
Mann has taken two existing scripts, one by The Italian Job’s Troy Kennedy Martin and another from Out Of Africa’s David Rayfield and bolted them together. Everything is based on Brock Yates’ 1991 book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races. The eventual film will focus on one year in the life of Ferrari, the charismatic, driven Italian car mogul who began his career working for Alfa Romeo as a racer, left to launch his own company in 1947, building the Ferrari name into a force to be reckoned with in the 1950s and 60s and eventually letting Fiat take control of the car business.
Back in October, it was reported that Noomi Rapace was in talks to co-star, but Bale's departure likely changes that idea. We'll see who Mann ends up with as Ferrari's long-suffering wife.
For those that still want to see Bale in action, he's on screen in The Big Short, which arrives on Friday.