After locating its central duo of George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison, The Weinstein Company’s period legal drama The Current War has set sights on Nicholas Hoult for the role of Nikola Tesla.
TheWrap has the scoop, confirming that the X-Men stalwart has opened negotiations to board the pic, potentially joining Benedict Cumberbatch (Edison) and the recently cast Michael Shannon (Westinghouse) – supplanting Jake Gyllenhaal, who bowed out early on in development. An electric rivalry in every sense of the word, The Current War is set to chronicle the public clash between the two industry titans as they race to harness the power of the electricity industry throughout the late 1880s and, ultimately, introduce a sustainable power grid in the United States and beyond. Their spat spawned from differing opinions over direct and alternate current.
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl fame is aboard to helm the period piece, with sources close to TheWrap claiming that the filmmaker held talks with Hoult in London just recently regarding the vacant role. It’s not a done deal just yet, but after impressing in Tom Ford’s directorial debut A Single Man, TWC is keen to lock down Nicholas Hoult for the part.
The jury’s still out on when The Current War will boot online at The Weinstein Company, but Hoult has already teed up an exciting slate in 2017 thanks to war drama Sand Castle and Danny Strong biopic Rebel In The Rye. Adding a performance as the famed Nikola Tesla to that docket can only be a good thing.