Bale’s ‘Burst Could Be Bad For Business

Although overshadowed by the sheer maniacal genius of Heath Ledger’s “Joker,” Christian Bale remains the best thing that’s ever happened to the Batman franchise.

A star ever since he was a little kid (in fact, the Academy created a whole new award after his masterful performance in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun), the Welsh actor is on the cusp of becoming the main attraction in another celebrated Hollywood franchise: The Terminator.

Along the way, or course, he dazzled in The Machinist, 3:10 To Yuma and, most notably, American Psycho.

Of course what seemed like smooth sailing to permanent A-list icon status was disrupted a few months ago when he was accused of assaulting his mother, and now the bad-ass persona that plays so well in these action epics has taken another hit.

Specifically, this hit (warning … every other word is the F-bomb) …

Yeah … as a result of these two situations Bale is now in danger of being remembered not for American Psycho, but for being a regular psycho.

From The LA Times:

Is Christian Bale throwing away his Oscars hopes? Bad boys don’t win Academy Awards. It’s no coincidence that the Oscars’ two biggest losers — Peter O’Toole (eight defeats) and Richard Burton (seven) — have been Hollywood’s biggest hell-raisers.

Or consider Marlon Brando. Early in his career, when he exulted in being a ‘tude-heavy dude fond of throwing his fists around Hollywood, he left the Oscar ceremony in 1951 hugely embarrassed — the only cast member of “A Streetcar Named Desire” not to win despite widespread predictions otherwise. Things just got worse after that. Over the next two years Marlon Brando lost best-actor nominations for “Viva Zapata!” and “Julius Caesar.”

Then in 1954, desperate to win, he finally wised up, knocked that chip off his shoulder, put on a fancy tuxedo and started acting all sweet and thoughtful at the Golden Globes, where he won best actor first, then repeated the feat at the Oscars for “On the Waterfront.”

We like Bale. He’s insanely gifted and brings a near religious commitment to his craft.

But there’s clearly a screw loose somewhere, and unless he gets his act together like Brando did his public persona (and bank account) are headed for oblivion.

Nobody likes an asshole …

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