When Sony reportedly snapped up the film rights to the Steve Jobs biography, the immediate speculation ran not toward who the director might be, but who might play Steve Jobs. Reports now place one of Hollywood's elite at the top of the list.

The rumor was quietly floated by UK magazine Now that George Clooney, star of Ocean's Eleven, The Perfect Storm and television's ER, has been jockeying behind-the-scenes to play the iconic Apple co-founder. Accompanying that rumor is the talk that Clooney's former ER castmate Noah Wyle is also being considered for the role.

To bring the story to life, Sony is rumored to be courting screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who penned The Social Network, the Oscar-winning movie about the rise of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

& Regarding the portrayal of Jobs, the contrast between the two actors will serve as entertaining "what if" fodder in the coming months. But any true geek who has seen the classic television movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley has probably already weighed in with the very accurate assessment that, in terms of looks and "fit and finish," Wyle's portrayal of Jobs in 1999 made it seem like he was born for the part. The brooding mystery and suave delivery of Clooney would likely be wasted on a film that may very well far surpass The Social Network in the annals of technology epics brought to the big screen.

& Jobs's competition-driven, rage-filled histrionics versus Google and Microsoft will require zero-to-100 flips of quiet zen study to flat out mania. While he is a relatively bankable movie icon, Clooney isn't known for such dynamic range. My personal vote would be for Gary Oldman. If you've ever seen The Professional, then just remember detective Stansfield (post pill-pop) during a crime scene survey and you'll suddenly realize that Oldman as Jobs would probably result in an Oscar for all involved.

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