Michael Shannon has signed on to play George Westinghouse alongside Benedict Cumberbatch’s Thomas Edison in The Weinstein Company’s upcoming drama The Current War. Jake Gyllenhaal had previously been in talks for the role.
The Current War will see Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) directing from Michael Mitnick’s 2011 Black List script, which explores the feud between Edison and Westinghouse as the two battled over the best way to power the United States.
The film is one of two competing movies about the rivalry between the two electrical giants, with Morten Tyldum directing The Last Days of Night, which has Eddie Redmayne attached to play Westinghouse’s lawyer Paul Cravath.
Originally published October 1, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
