Post by sgev1977 on May 22, 2019 20:30:09 GMT
How ‘The Current War’ Got a Second Chance
A new cut of ‘The Current War,’ about the race to electrify America, will open in October, after surviving creative differences, bad reviews, the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy and a reshoot
By Kevin Lincoln
A new cut of ‘The Current War,’ about the race to electrify America, will open in October, after surviving creative differences, bad reviews, the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy and a reshoot
By Kevin Lincoln
In “The Current War,” Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon face off as Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse in the race to electrify America. The movie, which will be released in October, faced its own hurdles, including a scrapped first cut, reshoots and the Weinstein Co. meltdown.
When Timur Bekmambetov, who produced “The Current War,” bought the script in 2012, he saw relevance to today’s world, in which the wonder and peril of technology go hand in hand. “It’s about innovation, it’s about the responsibility of new technologies,” he said. “This is a 21st-century movie talking about very scary stuff. This genius Edison, who gave us light, he invented the electric chair.”
Mr. Bekmambetov signed Mr. Cumberbatch to star as Mr. Edison and enlisted the Weinstein Co. to produce and finance “The Current War.” He brought on director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, whose debut, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” won the Grand Jury prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Gomez-Rejon began shooting the movie in 2016.
Mr. Gomez-Rejon also responded to the material’s relevance, but said he had reservations about working with Harvey Weinstein, a co-founder of the Weinstein Co., who had a reputation for getting deeply involved in the creative process. Mr. Weinstein couldn’t be reached for comment.
“The Weinstein Co. was the best at making these kinds of movies and getting them out there, these mid-range adult dramas that are so hard to make these days,” Mr. Gomez-Rejon said.
The filmmakers agreed with the Weinstein Co. to give final cut of the film to Martin Scorsese, Mr. Gomez-Rejon’s mentor. But the director and the Weinstein Co. disagreed over the tone of “The Current War” during production and post-production, according to Messrs. Gomez-Rejon and Bekmambetov.
Mr. Gomez-Rejon wanted to avoid sentimentality and lend a darker tone to the characterization of Mr. Edison, and he says that Mr. Weinstein pushed the film in a different direction, cutting scenes that Mr. Gomez-Rejon thought were essential and adding elements that the director disliked.
In 2017, the film premiered to poor reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival. Mr. Gomez-Rejon says that cut differed greatly from his vision.
“By the time we got to Toronto, there was a lot of forced voiceover to over-explain and push the sentimentality of it, and it diluted my vision,” Mr. Gomez-Rejon says. “After TIFF, I realized all that I had lost, and the possibility that that would be the final version forever. The response left me pretty devastated and helpless, because I felt like I had become the casualty that everyone had warned me about before I even started.”
Not long after, the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke. Dozens of women accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual misconduct, and his company filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2018. Mr. Weinstein has admitted mistakes but denied allegations of nonconsensual sex.
“The movie was totally in limbo for a year, maybe,” Mr. Bekmambetov said. “I couldn’t find a way to get the rights to the movie. At times, I was trying to buy it back, or somehow to have a chance to finish the movie.”
That changed a few months ago, when Lantern Capital, which purchased the Weinstein Co.’s assets for $289 million, agreed to co-finance a new version of “The Current War.”
According to Mr. Bekmambetov, because of Mr. Scorsese’s contractual final cut, “The Current War” couldn’t be released without his approval, and he required that the filmmakers be able to complete the movie as they saw fit. Mr. Scorsese couldn’t be reached for comment.
Messrs. Bekmambetov and Gomez-Rejon put up their own money alongside Lantern’s to pay for another day of shooting, as well as a new edit and a complete re-scoring of the film. They then sold the rights to the revamped version to a brand-new distributor, 101 Studios, which will make “The Current War” its first theatrical release. It is set to open in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 4 and then nation-wide Oct. 11. The timing gives the film a prime slot in the middle of awards season.
David Glasser, founder of 101 Studios, was familiar with “The Current War” because he had been chief operating officer of the Weinstein Co. during its production. Mr. Glasser says he saw echoes of modern tech titans like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg in the story.
For Mr. Gomez-Rejon, the redo is poignant. “I just knew that I needed one more chance to get the right version out there,” he says. “It was so easy to just let it go, to move on with your life, but I couldn’t move on with my life, and now, however it does, it’s the best version I was able to do.”
When Timur Bekmambetov, who produced “The Current War,” bought the script in 2012, he saw relevance to today’s world, in which the wonder and peril of technology go hand in hand. “It’s about innovation, it’s about the responsibility of new technologies,” he said. “This is a 21st-century movie talking about very scary stuff. This genius Edison, who gave us light, he invented the electric chair.”
Mr. Bekmambetov signed Mr. Cumberbatch to star as Mr. Edison and enlisted the Weinstein Co. to produce and finance “The Current War.” He brought on director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, whose debut, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” won the Grand Jury prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Gomez-Rejon began shooting the movie in 2016.
Mr. Gomez-Rejon also responded to the material’s relevance, but said he had reservations about working with Harvey Weinstein, a co-founder of the Weinstein Co., who had a reputation for getting deeply involved in the creative process. Mr. Weinstein couldn’t be reached for comment.
“The Weinstein Co. was the best at making these kinds of movies and getting them out there, these mid-range adult dramas that are so hard to make these days,” Mr. Gomez-Rejon said.
The filmmakers agreed with the Weinstein Co. to give final cut of the film to Martin Scorsese, Mr. Gomez-Rejon’s mentor. But the director and the Weinstein Co. disagreed over the tone of “The Current War” during production and post-production, according to Messrs. Gomez-Rejon and Bekmambetov.
Mr. Gomez-Rejon wanted to avoid sentimentality and lend a darker tone to the characterization of Mr. Edison, and he says that Mr. Weinstein pushed the film in a different direction, cutting scenes that Mr. Gomez-Rejon thought were essential and adding elements that the director disliked.
In 2017, the film premiered to poor reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival. Mr. Gomez-Rejon says that cut differed greatly from his vision.
“By the time we got to Toronto, there was a lot of forced voiceover to over-explain and push the sentimentality of it, and it diluted my vision,” Mr. Gomez-Rejon says. “After TIFF, I realized all that I had lost, and the possibility that that would be the final version forever. The response left me pretty devastated and helpless, because I felt like I had become the casualty that everyone had warned me about before I even started.”
Not long after, the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke. Dozens of women accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual misconduct, and his company filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2018. Mr. Weinstein has admitted mistakes but denied allegations of nonconsensual sex.
“The movie was totally in limbo for a year, maybe,” Mr. Bekmambetov said. “I couldn’t find a way to get the rights to the movie. At times, I was trying to buy it back, or somehow to have a chance to finish the movie.”
That changed a few months ago, when Lantern Capital, which purchased the Weinstein Co.’s assets for $289 million, agreed to co-finance a new version of “The Current War.”
According to Mr. Bekmambetov, because of Mr. Scorsese’s contractual final cut, “The Current War” couldn’t be released without his approval, and he required that the filmmakers be able to complete the movie as they saw fit. Mr. Scorsese couldn’t be reached for comment.
Messrs. Bekmambetov and Gomez-Rejon put up their own money alongside Lantern’s to pay for another day of shooting, as well as a new edit and a complete re-scoring of the film. They then sold the rights to the revamped version to a brand-new distributor, 101 Studios, which will make “The Current War” its first theatrical release. It is set to open in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 4 and then nation-wide Oct. 11. The timing gives the film a prime slot in the middle of awards season.
David Glasser, founder of 101 Studios, was familiar with “The Current War” because he had been chief operating officer of the Weinstein Co. during its production. Mr. Glasser says he saw echoes of modern tech titans like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg in the story.
For Mr. Gomez-Rejon, the redo is poignant. “I just knew that I needed one more chance to get the right version out there,” he says. “It was so easy to just let it go, to move on with your life, but I couldn’t move on with my life, and now, however it does, it’s the best version I was able to do.”
www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-current-war-got-a-second-chance-11558530031