Christian Bale, Tom Hardy compete to scale 'Everest'

Christian Bale and Tom Hardy, who both starred in latest Batman installment "The Dark Knight Rises," may each star in a movie about Mount Everest.

According to Deadline.com, Christian Bale is considering signing up for "Everest," a codename for a project by Universal Pictures and Working Title. The movie will tell of the debacle of an expedition to scale the Himalayan peak.

The subject of the film in which Tom Hardy is starring is quite similar and is also called "Everest," although the two concurrent movies will be set in different time periods.

Christian Bale's "Everest" will take place in 1996. Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur ("Jar City") will direct this loose adaptation of "Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster" by Jon Krakauer, who also wrote "Into the Wild," which was adapted for the cinema by Sean Penn.

The movie will focus on several teams of mountain climbers trapped on the slopes of Everest by a storm. According to the book, which denounced the mercantile methods of local agencies at the expense of safety, eight people died.

"Because it's there"

The project led by Tom Hardy will be set in 1924. Doug Liman will direct this Sony Pictures film about George Mallory. The British mountain climber disappeared during his third attempt to reach the top of Mount Everest. His body was only found in 1999 and it is unknown whether he fulfilled his ambition or not.

When mountain climbing pioneer and legend Mallory was asked "Why climb Mount Everest?" he famously answered "Because it's there." Since then, the answer has become a slogan for mountain climbing enthusiasts everywhere.