Just told you that Ben Stiller was in talks to play a role in the Alan Ball-directed I Am Chippendales, the film that’s in talks to land at The Weinstein Company. I also can tell you that Stiller is in discussions with TWC to direct The Current War, the Michael Mitnick-scripted fact-based drama about how electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse compete to create a sustainable system and market it to the American people. No deal yet, and they are still figuring out things like cast, but I’m told that Stiller has sparked to the project in a big way. The film will be produced by Film Rites’ Steve Zaillian and Garrett Basch and Timur Bekmambetov.

'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is in discussions to helm the film based on Michael Mitnick's Black List script.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbatch are in talks to star as George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison, respectively, in The Weinstein Co.'s The Current War.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is in discussions to helm the Edison-Westinghouse-feud film that was penned by playwright-screenwriter Michael Mitnick (The Giver), whose script made the Black List in 2011.

Current War takes place in the late 1880s and revolves around power titans Edison and Westinghouse's battle over the supply of electricity. Edison championed direct current (DC) for electric-power distribution over alternating current (AC), which was backed by several European companies and Westinghouse Electric.

TWC will finance Current War and release it domestically.

Dodd wrote:Jake and Ben Cum in the same movie? Dope

Jake Gyllenhaal makes one movie after another these days; does he EVEREST?

Michael Shannon has been cast as George Westinghouse in The Weinstein Company’s The Current War, a fact-based story about how he and rival Thomas Edison competed to create a sustainable electricity system and market it to the US.

He joins Benedict Cumberbatch in the project, who will play Edison. It’s directed by Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’s Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and is financed and distributed by TWC.

Michael Mitnick writes the script, which takes place in the late 1880s and revolves around the two titans and their battle over the supply of electricity. 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. Timur Bekmambetov will produce the project alongside Film Rites’ Steve Zaillian and Garrett Basch.

TWC is eyeing an early December shoot for the film so they’re casting aggressively for other roles.

X-Men” star Nicholas Hoult is in talks to join Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon in the Weinstein Company’s drama “The Current War,” an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap exclusively.

He would play inventor Nikola Tesla, while Cumberbatch will play Thomas Edison and Shannon will play George Westinghouse. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”) will direct, and recently met with Hoult in London to discuss the project, a second person familiar with the project told TheWrap.

Weinstein executives have been a fan of Hoult’s since Tom Ford‘s directing debut, “A Single Man,” and are looking for other projects to feature him, the insider added.

Michael Mitnick wrote the script, which was voted to the 2011 Black List of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays. Set in the late 1880s, the story follows the battle between Edison and Westinghouse to supply electricity, with Edison backing direct current and Westinghouse pushing alternating current.

Tesla came to the United States in 1884 and briefly worked with Thomas Edison before the two parted ways. He sold several patent rights, including those to his alternating-current machinery, to George Westinghouse. His 1891 invention, the “Tesla coil,” is still used in radio technology.

The Weinstein Company is eyeing an early December shoot for the project.

Katherine Waterston will star as George Westinghouse’s wife Marguerite Erskine in the Weinstein Company’s The Current War, the Alfonso Gomez-Rejon- directed drama about the battle between George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) and rival Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) to create a sustainable electricity system and market it to the U.S.

The film is coming together quickly, with Sienna Miller being courted for a role, and reports have Nicholas Hoult playing Nikola Tesla. Michael Mitnick wrote the script, which takes place in the late 1880s and revolves around the two titans and their battle over the supply of electricity. 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. Timur Bekmambetov will produce the project alongside Film Rites’ Steve Zaillian and Garrett Basch. TWC is eyeing an early December shoot.