Michael Fassbender has become a front-runner for a best actor Oscar following early screenings of the highly-anticipated Steve Jobs biopic in the US.

"You get the strong sense from Fassbender of a mind that is always several steps beyond everyone else's," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

While Variety claims Fassbender "completely owns the screen" despite the fact that his character is "very unlikeable throughout" the film.

British director Danny Boyle is expected to premiere the completed version of Steve Jobs at the New York Film Festival next month.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, who previously dramatised the life of Mark Zuckerberg in the Oscar-winning The Social Network, the film co-stars Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen and Jeff Daniels.

Fassbender previously received an Oscar nomination for his role in 12 Years a Slave