Benedict Cumberbatch’s The Current War Finally Gets a Release Date

May 21, 2019

Following the successful acquisition of the theatrical distribution rights to The Current War, 101 Studios has announced the new release date for the film. Starring Oscar nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon, the film will first have its limited release on October 4 which will be followed by a wide release on October 11.

The film was originally scheduled to be released in November 2017 but was pulled out from the schedule due to The Weinstein Company declaring bankruptcy. The new cut of the film runs 10 minutes shorter than the version shown at the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017 and will now feature five new scenes.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse, The Current War is the epic story of the cutthroat competition between the greatest inventors of the industrial age over whose electrical system would power the new century. Backed by J.P. Morgan, Edison dazzles the world by lighting Manhattan. But Westinghouse, aided by Nikola Tesla, has seen fatal flaws in Edison’s direct current design. Igniting a war of currents, Westinghouse and Tesla bet everything on risky and dangerous alternating current.

Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (Avengers: Endgame) stars as Thomas Edison alongside Michael Shannon’s (The Shape of Water) George Westinghouse. Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald), Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street) and Tuppence Middleton (War & Peace) also star, with Nicholas Hoult (Dark Phoenix) playing Nikola Tesla.

Written by Michael Mitnick (The Giver), the film is directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), with Basil Iwanyk (Wind River, Hotel Mumbai), Timur Bekmanbetov, and Harvey Weinstein producing, and Cumberbatch and Adam Ackland executive producing.