• The Last Days of Night

  • Graham Moore
  • Set Up
  • 2016
  • Black List
  • 92.8
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Market: Sun, 01 May 2016Sold: Tue, 10 May 2016
Director: Morten Tyldum
Executive: Teddy Schwarzman
AgentFrank Jung, Brian Siberell (CAA)
ManagerTom Drumm (Think Tank Management)
FinancierBlack Bear
5/10/2016 - Benedict Cumberbatch is attached to The Weinstein Company’s rival project The Current War, with Cumberbatch to play Edison and possibly Jake Gyllenhaal as Westinghouse in the race to electrify America. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl’s Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is attached to direct.
Based on the novel by the same name. New York, 1888. The miracle of electric light is in its infancy. Thomas Edison has won the race to the patent office and is suing his only remaining rival, George Westinghouse, for the unheard of sum of one billion dollars. To defend himself, Westinghouse makes a surprising choice in his attorney: He hires an untested twenty-six-year-old fresh out of Columbia Law School named Paul Cravath.
An ambitious law school graduate faces the biggest challenge of his life when asked to represent George Westinghouse in a patent war against the electricity "wizard" Thomas Edison, in the run up to the 1893 Chicago World Fair.
Young lawyer Paul Cravath defends George Westinghouse in a legal battle against Thomas Edison, the result of which will ultimately determine the future of electricity in America.
A young lawyer defends George Westinghouse in the biggest patent lawsuit case in American history, against Thomas Edison over the future of electricity and power in America.
Film
Film, Mainstream (studio), Biopic, Drama, Period, Courtroom, Urban, Adaptation, Historical, Money, Rivalry, Science, Technology, True Story
133
PG-13
Ultra High
M
White / European
26
Average
The Prestige, Amistad
1888-1890's New York City and Pittsburgh/Two years
Law fim, Metropolitan Opera House, Penn Station, small apartment, Westinghouse estate and factory, Edison's company building, Chicago World's Fair, various train cars, Manhattan mansions and outdoor parks.
PAUL CRAVATH (26), a young lawyer, walks through a bustling downtown Manhattan in the May 1888. A workman stringing up newfangled electrical cables, but slips when a connection is made and bursts into flames. Mass panic ensues as people scatter and the man is burned alive. A horse carriage barrels towards AGNES HUNTINGTON (24) in the fray, but just as they are about to trample her, Paul rescues her. He immediately runs off to inspect the body however.

Later on, at the law firm he works at, Paul discusses the carnage with his partner CHARLES HUGHES (30). They realize the incident benefits their client, GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE (50s), as the faulty wires belonged to one of his competitors’ companies, putting them out of business. Only Edison and Westinghouse remain in the competition.

WALTER CARTER (60s), Paul’s senior partner, informs Paul that Edison is suing Westinghouse for patent infringement. Seeing that Edison’s patent is apparently airtight and his history of winning lawsuits is perfect, Walter assigns Paul to talk Westinghouse out of the electric business, sticking to the railroad, so they don’t have to go to court and inevitably be beaten. Paul agrees, but Westinghouse is notoriously driven, and this is no easy...