As the scandal swirling around Harvey Weinstein only continues to get worse and worse, the fate of many of The Weinstein Company’s projects has been left up in the air. Though a statement released yesterday confirmed that everything is still on track for both Polaroid and Paddington 2, one film that’s been hit by all this is The Current War, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland and Michael Shannon.
Originally set to open on November 24th in order to angle it as a potential Oscar pic, TWC has now moved it to an undetermined 2018 date. Granted, after a poor reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was said that The Current War would be subject to some significant edits, but still, all involved hoped to have it ready for next month.
Now, however, it’s going to miss its shot at awards season and given everything that’s going on over at The Weinstein Company at the moment, it’s unclear what’ll happen with the movie. As Variety notes, this recent scandal “has soured the market for Weinstein Co. films” and even if The Current War has been improved since TIFF, it still may have had a tough time winning over critics. Which, for a prestige pic like this, is key if it’s to turn a profit.
Making things even more complicated is just this past week, Cumberbatch blasted Harvey, saying:
“I am utterly disgusted by the continuing revelations of Harvey Weinstein’s horrifying and unforgivable actions…We need to collectively stand up and support victims of abuse such as the brave and inspiring women who have spoken out against him and say we hear you and believe you.”
With that in mind, perhaps it’s for the best that The Current War has been put back on the shelf for the time being, as a release once everything’s blown over might serve it better in the long run. Still, it’s a shame that those involved with the project won’t get their shot at Oscar gold this year – or any year, for that matter, as this move could potentially damage the film permanently.
As mentioned above, The Weinstein Company has yet to announce a new release date for The Current War, but as soon as they do we’ll be sure to let you know.
