'The Current War': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and everything you need to know about movie on the race to light up America
'The Current War' will finally light up theaters in 2019, two years after the film was originally slated to release. Benedict Cumberbatch is playing iconic inventor Thomas Alva Edison and the movie debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 2017. Originally to be distributed by The Weinstein Company, the film was shelved and sold off following the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations.
Here's what we know so far ahead of its release.
Release date
'The Current War' opens in select theaters on October 4, 2019, and everywhere on October 11, 2019.
Plot
The film is a historical drama and is based on a true story that chronicles Edison's rivalry with entrepreneur George Westinghouse. It narrates the race to light up the US and how the two men wanted to monopolise a radical invention that would define the future. 'The Current War' is set in 1879, the period when Edison was on the verge of getting his plans to Manhattan before a businessman steps in and tramples the idea. Westingson believed that his partner, Nikolai Tesla, had a much better idea to bring electricity to the country.
Cast
Cumberbatch ('Dr. Strange' and 'Sherlock') plays Edison and is joined by Shannon ('The Little Drummer Girl') as rival entrepreneur Westinghouse. Nicholas Hoult (X-Men) plays Tesla, while Tom Holland, ditches the spidey suit and grabs some slacks to play Edison’s young secretary. Katherine Waterston as Westinghouse’s wife Marguerite Erskine, Tuppence Middleton as Edison’s wife Mary, Conor MacNeill as William Kemmler, the first person in the world to be legally executed using an electric chair, and Damien Molony as lawyer W. Bourke Cockran round up the rest of the cast.
Writer/Director
Michael Mitnik ('Vinyl') has written the screenplay and the movie was helmed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon of the 'Julie and Julia' fame.
Trailer
"Trust you all bought your checkbooks," says a confident Edison (Cumberbatch) after he lights up bulbs in what appears to be an official demonstration of his invention at the start of the clip. The trailer then shows how Shannon tries to shift the focus away from Cumberbatch's theory as he and Tesla (Hoult) claim that they have another easy and reasonable method to power up the country's lights.
Watch this space for more updates on 'The Current War'
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