The Dark Knight Rises star Christian Bale is in talks to take the lead in Everest for Working Title Films and Universal Pictures.

The plot is based on the true story of two separate groups who tried to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1996, which ended in tragedy. Christian Bale is playing Rob Hall, the leader of a New Zealand group which suffered four casualties during the ascent.

Several books were written about the May 1996 expedition, including Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, who was a part of Rob Hall's party. Anatoli Boukreev, a Russian guide whose party lost no climbers, also wrote a book entitled The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest. It isn't known who is writing the screenplay, or if the project is based on either of these books.

Baltasar Kormákur is directing, with Emmett/Furla Films providing the financing. This is not to be confused with Sony's Everest, which has Doug Liman attached to direct and Tom Hardy set to star as George Mallory, the first climber to reach the Mount Everest summit in 1924.