Before Avengers: Infinity War, Tom Holland And Benedict Cumberbatch Were In This Forgotten Historical Drama

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Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch have become true anchors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, respectively. In 2018, their characters crossed paths in "Avengers: Infinity War," which became a $2 billion box office sensation, teeing up the even bigger "Avengers: Endgame." But before they squared off against Thanos, Holland and Cumberbatch teamed up for a largely forgotten historical drama. One that deserved a better fate than the one it got.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017, "The Current War" is a drama directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon ("The Town that Dreaded Sundown") all about the war to bring electricity to the world. Unfortunately, the movie faced several major hurdles along its road to release.

The movie stars Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse. It tells the story of the rivalry between these great 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. Westinghouse and Tesla, meanwhile, bet everything on risky and dangerous alternating current. Holland plays Samuel Insull, an associate of Edison's.

Reviewing it out of TIFF, /Film's Chris Evangelista called "The Current War" a "visually inventive biopic that burns out." The problem is that, despite star power from the likes of Holland, Cumberbatch, and Shannon, the cut shown at TIFF wasn't the one Gomez-Rejon envisioned. That was just the start of this movie's problems, which can pretty much all be traced back to none other than Harvey Weinstein.

The movie originated at The Weinstein Company back when it was still a powerhouse in Hollywood. However, "The Current War" had its release date dropped following the Harvey Weinstein scandal that prompted the #MeToo movement in 2017. Originally slated to hit theaters in December of that year, seemingly hoping to capture awards season attention, it wound up caught up in all of the drama.

Without getting into the specifics of his horrific crimes, Weinstein was eventually sentenced to 39 years in prison. As all of that was unfolding, The Weinstein Company went bankrupt, and its entire slate was left in limbo. Even before that, though, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon was having issues dealing with Weinstein. The movie had been accepted into TIFF based on an early cut, but it was straight-up rushed to the finish line.

"The Current War" was later acquired by 101 Studios for a wide release in 2019. It was a very messy situation, and the movie ultimately fell victim to Weinstein in more ways than one. Upon 101's acquisition in 2019, Gomez-Rejon explained what went down behind-the-scenes, saying the following:

"I knew in my heart, and every fiber of my body was saying, it's not ready [for TIFF]. I was drowning in notes, to the point I was addressing them more than editing the film. I'd get them from London, and then more from New York. We rushed the mix, ADR, sound. You go in knowing [Harvey Weinstein's reputation for re-cutting films]. People warned me to be careful and I was determined to not be another casualty until I saw the [Toronto] cut and felt like an idiot. I went in fearless and then suddenly you realize you are a casualty, a footnote."

After initially suffering mixed reviews before being shelved amidst The Weinstein Company's fallout, the movie got a second shot at life. "The Current War" was given a release date after a two-year delay. It was released as "The Current War: Director's Cut" throughout much of the world and, as the title suggests, it was a cut that more closely resembled what Alfonso Gomez-Rejon had in mind.

As Business Insider explained in 2019, there was a clause in his contract stating that if a cut of the movie was made without Gomez-Rejon's consent, Martin Scorsese, who was a producer, would have to sign off. Scorsese was a mentor to the director, and the "Scorsese clause" was discovered by Gomez-Rejon's agents and a team of lawyers. Once Scorsese found out about the whole thing, he opted not to sign off on the movie until he knew the director's vision was set in stone.

It worked fairly well, creatively speaking. Upon reassessment of the new cut, /Film's Chris Evangelista said "The Current War" got a second chance in a more favorable review. Sadly, that didn't do it any favors at the box office, as the movie got buried by a slew of other releases and hardly cracked the top 10 on its opening weekend. It finished its run with a mere $12.2 million worldwide on a reported $30 million. It simply slipped through the cracks.

Meanwhile, that same year, "Avengers: Endgame" took the MCU to its record-shattering peak, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland featured prominently. The movie pulled in $2.79 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing movie of all time until James Cameron's "Avatar" later took the title back.

You can grab "The Current War" on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.