Having already played the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Alan Turing and Smaug, Benedict Cumberbatch will next star as Thomas Edison in “The Current War.” Michael Shannon, Katherine Waterston, Tom Holland and Nicholas Hoult will also appear in the upcoming biopic from Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”), which just released a first-look image of Cumberbatch.
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Here’s the synopsis: “Set in the late 1880s, ‘The Current War’ details the rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse and the race to create a marketable and sustainable electricity system. Edison championed the use of a direct current for electric power distribution over an alternating current, which was backed by Westinghouse Electric and a host of European companies.” Shannon will play Westinghouse, with Hoult taking on the role of Nikolai Tesla.
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Michael Mitnick (“The Giver”) wrote “The Current War,” which was yet to set a release date. Cumberbatch’s other upcoming performances include “Magik,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and Andy Serkis’ “Jungle Book.”
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