The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Christian Bale has pulled out of the Aaron Sorkin penned Steve Jobs biopic. The report claims that Bale decided to withdraw from the film because he felt he wasn’t right for the role.

Sources say Bale, after much deliberation and conflicting feelings, came to the conclusion he was not right for the part and decided to withdraw. The script is said to be divided into three acts that detail Jobs preparing for three presentations that came to define his life and the life of the company he co-founded, lost and came back to.

Not even a week ago, Sorkin explained that Bale secured the Jobs role without even so much as an audition.

“He has more words to say in this movie than most people have in three movies combined,” Sorkin said. “There isn’t a scene or a frame that he’s not in. So it’s an extremely difficult part and he is gonna crush it.”

Personally, Bale’s casting actually got me excited for the movie, which was quite a feat given how forgettable the first Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher was. All in all, it’s a shame to see Bale pull out.

So now the question becomes, who else has the acting chops to take on what will undoubtedly be a demanding role? Edward Norton, maybe?

The great thing about the Bale casting (for the glorious week that it lasted) is that in addition to being a tremendous actor, Bale would have arguably been able to emulate Jobs’ outward appearance more easily than some other top actors in the game today.