"Nocturnal Animals" actor Michael Shannon is in negotiations to join "Star Trek Into Darkness" actor Benedict Cumberbatch in The Weinstein Company's "The Current War." "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is set to direct.
According to Variety, Shannon is expected to play the role of George Westinghouse in "The Current War." On the other hand, Cumberbatch is already on board to play the role of Thomas Edison.
"The Current War" took place in the late 1880s. It is a fact-based story about how the two electrical titans Westinghouse and Edison competed to create a sustainable electricity system and market it to the United States. Edison championed the use of a direct current for electric power distribution over an alternating current that was backed by several European companies and Westinghouse Electric.
"The Current War" is one of the two films to generate sparks on the Edison-Westinghouse rivalry. The other film is the Black Bear Pictures drama "The Last Days of Night" directed by "Passengers" Morten Tyldum.
"The Last Days of Night" is based on Graham Moore's own book published through Random House. "The Theory of Everything" star Eddie Redmayne will play as Westinghouse's lawyer Paul Cravath. He is tasked to defend his client after Edison wins the race to the patent office.
"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" director Timur Bekmambetov will produce "The Current War" together with Film Rites' Steve Zaillian and Garrett Basch, Deadline reported. He was originally eyed to direct the movie. "The Giver" writer Michael Mitnick is the script writer.
Shannon's next high-profile project will be "The Current War." The actor will next appear in Tom Ford's "Nocturnal Animals" that premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival together with Jeff Nichols' films "Midnight Special" and "Loving." He is currently filming Guillermo del Toro's Cold War fantasy "The Shape of Water."
"The Current War" is aiming for an early December shoot. "The Last Days of Night" is on course for a February shoot.
Watch the video of Michael Shannon joining Benedict Cumberbatch for a new historical drama about Thomas Edison:
