If you think you’ve heard or read about Benedict Cumberbatch playing Thomas Edison in a film called “The Current War” before, it’s because you probably have. It’s a movie some people first saw nearly two years ago.
The film first premiered to lackluster reviews at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2017 and had been slated to be released wide in November 2017.
Then, “The Current War” became a casualty of the scandal involving disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, which began unraveling in October 2017.
“The Current War” ended up being purchased by Lantern Entertainment amid the Weinstein Co.’s bankruptcy case. It will be the first film from 101 Studios, which bought the US distribution rights from Lantern.
The movie, from director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, is now set for release October 11 and a new trailer was released Wednesday.
In “The Current War,” Cumberbatch stars alongside Nicholas Hoult, who plays Nikolai Tesla; Michael Shannon, who plays George Westinghouse and Tom Holland.
Gomez-Rejon told Entertainment Weekly the delay allowed him time to make adjustments to the film, adding that the one screened at the festival “wasn’t fully realized.”
“I’m ready for an epilogue to this story that’s actually a happy ending after a few years of it being a bit of a struggle for so many involved,” he told the publication.
