Christian Bale turns down Noah

Christian Bale has passed on the lead role in Darren Aronofsky's 'Noah'.
The 'Dark Knight Rises' actor was set to take on the titular character in the forthcoming Biblical epic - about a man who is told by God to build an ark and save all the world's animals from a huge flood - but due to his busy schedule, with films 'Lawless' and 'Knight of Cups' coming up, he has decided he can no longer commit.
Now, in-demand actor Michael Fassbender is said to be in contention for the part after a meeting with 'Black Swan' director Darren.
However, he too has a busy schedule - although he only officially has Steve McQueen's '12 Years A Slave' on his radar, he will also reprise the role of Magneto in an 'X-Men: First Class' sequel, and no offer has yet been confirmed.
'Noah' - which would be Darren's first significant project since 'Black Swan' - is set to go into production in spring 2012 following a script edit by John Logan, who most recently worked on Martin Scorsese's 3-D family movie 'Hugo'.