Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, written by Michael Mitnick, and executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Zaillian, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Edison, Michael Shannon as Westinghouse, Nicholas Hoult as Nikola Tesla, and Tom Holland as Samuel Insull, alongside Katherine Waterston, Tuppence Middleton, Matthew Macfadyen and Damien Molony.

After discovering a final cut privilege clause in Scorsese's contract, Gomez-Rejon convinced him to allow for reshoots and to trim ten minutes off the original version's runtime, resulting in the film that was eventually released into theaters.

He plans to distribute power to American neighborhoods using Direct Current (DC), which is cheaper and cleaner than gaslight, but is limited in range and needs an expensive wiring infrastructure.

After being snubbed by Edison, Westinghouse sets out to prove alternating current (AC) is the better technology, as it can work over greater distances and at significantly lower cost.

As Edison struggles to find ways to make DC more affordable, Westinghouse attempts to get the high-voltage AC system to work with motors.

To damage the reputation of AC, Edison shows that it easily electrocutes animals, and secretly works to help the creators of the electric chair, despite his previous objections to manufacturing weapons or other machines of death.

[7] As of September 24, 2015, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal were in talks to play Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, respectively, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) eyed to direct the film.

[15] Principal photography began on December 18, 2016, and took place in London and the surrounding areas,[16] as well as Rothbury, Northumberland, where Cragside House was used as a location.

Thanks to a clause in executive producer Martin Scorsese's contract, he had to approve all final cuts of the film, which resulted in Gomez-Rejon's being able to raise $1 million to complete post-production, as well as do one day of reshoots in England with Cumberbatch, Middleton and Hoult, rounding out their characters.

[1] The film's score was originally written by the composer duo of Dustin O'Halloran & Volker Bertelmann (Hauschka)[20] for the cut that was shown at TIFF in 2017.

Unlike the other Harvey Weinstein's re-editing of the films, director Gomez-Rejon said since the Toronto premiere he had added five additional scenes and trimmed ten minutes from the runtime.

[3][1] In the United States and Canada, The Current War was released alongside Black and Blue and Countdown, and was projected to gross around $3 million from 1,020 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Current War is powered by an outstanding cast and an intriguing, history-inspired story, which makes this drama's low wattage all the more shocking.

"[37] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews"[38] Reviewing the film after its 2017 premiere, David Rooney for The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "For all its aggressive energy, The Current War is an uninvolving bore, making it unlikely to measure up as the kind of Oscar-baity prestige entry The Weinstein Co. obviously had in mind.

"[39] Also reviewing the original cut, Andrew Barker of Variety called the film "flashy but unilluminating" and saying that "so little of The Current War's hustle and bustle serves much of a concrete purpose...

"[41] Dan Jolin of Empire magazine called the film a "stylish portrayal of a literal power struggle based on truly interesting historical figures and events.

The website's critics consensus reads, "If it lacks the powerful voltage that its impressive cast suggests, The Current War: Director's Cut represents a significant improvement over previous versions.