Christian Bale in talks for Aronofsky's 'Noah'

Christian Bale has reportedly entered talks to star in Darren Aronofsky's Noah movie.

The Black Swan director is said to be keen to secure Bale's services to lead his biblical epic, which is allegedly carrying a budget of $130 million (£79m).

Studio New Regency is seeking to co-finance the ambitious Noah's Ark project with either Paramount, Summit Entertainment or 20th Century Fox.

Bale's involvement will help to raise the money needed to make the movie and give it leverage in foreign territories, according to Vulture.

Aronofsky first revealed his desire to make Noah in a 2008 interview with Slash Film.

"It's the end of the world and it's the second most famous ship after the Titanic," he said. "It's a really cool project and I think it's really timely because it's about environmental apocalypse, which is the biggest theme for me right now for what's going on on this planet."

Noah is also being planned as a graphic novel, written by Aronofsky with illustrations by Canadian artist Nico Henrichon.