Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbatch to Star In The Current War

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Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbath are both in talks with the Weinstein Co. to star in The Current War, a period piece that examines the 19th-century feud over the future of commercial electric energy. If a deal is to be made, the actors will star as George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison, and will be directed by Me and Earl and the Dying Girl director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.

The script is written by Michael Mitnick, and focuses in particular on the relationship between the two aforementioned characters in the late 1880s. Thomas Edison believed electrical power should be delivered through a direct current, with George Westinghouse believing an alternating current was more efficient.

Producing will be Timur Bekmanbetov (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List) and Garrett Basch (Life Itself). Cumberbatch has a major role in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, which will begin shooting this fall, while Gyllenhaal can be seen in the recently released disaster film Everest.

 

Ayden Walker @walkaydenwalk.
Source: Variety