Darren Aronofsky will be directing a biopic on Elon Musk, which is underway at A24, Variety has confirmed.
The screenplay for the Musk biopic will be based on Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of the tech mogul, published in September. Isaacson's previous work, "Steve Jobs," also served as the basis for the 2015 Universal film starring Michael Fassbender as the Apple CEO.
A24 emerged victorious in a competitive bidding war to secure the option for Isaacson's book, according to sources.
Aronofsky, renowned for his surreal filmmaking style and psychological elements, has previously directed "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), "Black Swan" (2010), and "Mother!" (2017). He was also nominated for a best director Oscar for "Black Swan" and most recently directed last year's Oscar contender “The Whale” starring Brendan Fraser.
That film stirred controversy, with critics slamming Aronofsky, and Fraser, who wore a fat suit for the portrayal of his character's obesity on screen.
Leading his critics was The New York Times writer Roxane Gay, who slammed Aronofsky in an opinion piece, writing that "The Whale" was “an inhumane film about a very human being."
In the film, Fraser portrays a severely obese, reclusive gay college professor struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter in the final days of his life.
When asked about the criticism of the project — an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's 2012 play — Aronofsky told Yahoo Entertainment that it "makes no sense" to him. He argued that "actors have been using makeup since the beginning of acting — that's one of their tools.
"The lengths we went to portray the realism of the makeup has never been done before. One of my first calls after casting Brendan was to my makeup artist, Adrien Morot. I asked him, 'Can we do something that's realistic?' Because if it's going to look like a joke, then we shouldn't do it."
During the interview, Aronofsky explained that, while "people with obesity are generally written as bad guys or as punch lines," his team "wanted to create a fully worked-out character who has bad parts about him and good parts about him; Charlie [Fraser] is very selfish, but he's also full of love and is seeking forgiveness. So [the controversy] makes no sense to me."
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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