He’s been busy making Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and always seems to be attached to a variety of possible future film gigs, but that isn’t stopping Timur Bekmambetov from lining up another likely directing job. The Wanted man has dipped into the funds in the vault at his Bazelevs production company to buy Michael Mitnick’s script The Current War.
Mitnick’s screenplay, which hit the 2011 Black List, follows the real-life public clash between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse as to who was going to decide the future of the electricity industry. It was, to put it bluntly, an actual power struggle. That said, it’s much more of a straight drama than the action-fests Bekmambetov has directed in the past.
It’s early days for the project, which also boasts Steve Zaillian as an executive producer. Mitnick has since gone on to write the lyrics for a planned Broadway musical adaptation of Animal House, so there’s no word on how involved he’ll be in the script’s development. And while casting is now properly kicking off, Variety reports that Sacha Baron Cohen had shown interest in the Edison role, though no formal offer has been made and scheduling may get in the way.
Bekmambetov most recently agreed to produce family-flavoured adventure Woogles, which Chronicle writer Max Landis is producing. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, of course, hits screens on August 2 this year.