X-MEN's Nicholas Hoult To Play Nikola Tesla in THE CURRENT WAR

The Current War has been in the works for quite some time, with Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov set to direct back in 2012 and now Me and Earl and The Dying Girl helmer Alfonso Gomez-Rajon lined up to lead the movie. The title doesn't refer to the battle we're fighting against terrorism or any other threat like that: it's actually about the war for direct vs. alternating current that was fought between Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla back in the late 1800s.

Benedict Cumberbatch, once slated to play Westinghouse, will now play Edison in the film, while the role of Westinghouse will now go to Michael Shannon. And The Wrap reports that X-Men star Nicholas Hoult has nearly finalized his deal to play Tesla in the project. Hoult has been fine as Beast in the last few X-Men movies, and he did solid work in Mad Max: Fury Road. Cumberbatch facing off against Shannon sounds amazing, and a stellar performance from Hoult could be the icing on the cake.

Filming is scheduled to start in December, so I'd expect to see The Current War hit theaters sometime in late 2017.