Ragesh Dipu
‘Cold War’ star Tomasz Kot is set to play the role of inventor Nikola Tesla in the upcoming biopic ‘Nikola.’ The movie will chronicle Tesla’s known scientific feats and his unknown battles with financial insecurity and other personal problems. Anand Tucker, who is known as the director of ‘Leap Year’ and producer of ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring,’ wrote the script for the movie. According to Deadline, the plot centers on Tesla’s last experiment which was considered as a misadventure during his time but later regarded as one of his greatest achievements.
Daria Jovicic will produce the movie for Latitude Media while Peter Touche, Andrea Scarso and Ximo Paris will serve as executive producers. Tucker’s Seven Stories will co-produce the project. Jovicic and Tucker’s previous joint ventures include ‘The Railway Man,’ ‘Incendiary’ and ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring.’
“Nikola Tesla was one of the most influential and important minds at the dawn of the 20th century, and in many ways created our modern world, with its electric cars, instant connectivity through the Internet, and global communication,” Tucker is quoted as saying by Deadline. “He was also a deeply complex and extraordinary human being. Tomasz is an exquisite actor, and when I saw his extraordinary performance in Cold War there was no doubt in my mind as to who should play Tesla.”
Polish actor Kot garnered international acclaim for his stunning portrayal of the music director Wiktor Warski in the Oscar-nominated ‘Cold War.’ Directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, the movie depicts the passionate love story between a music director and a talented singer in the backdrop of post-war Poland. The movie went on to become a critical and commercial success and earned numerous accolades, including three Academy Award nominations. Kot’s upcoming projects include the sci-fi thriller ‘Warning’ and the BBC series ‘World On Fire.’
“We are beyond thrilled to have Tomasz on board,” said Jovicic. “He is the perfect actor for the role and we are so excited to be working together to bring Anand’s terrific script to life.”
The Serbian-American inventor Tesla was known for numerous path-breaking inventions including the pioneering steps of wireless communication during the late 19th and early 20th Century. The extraordinary real-life character has inspired numerous film adaptations. Nicholas Hoult played Tesla in the movie ‘The Current War,’ directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Ethan Hawke is set to play the inventor in the upcoming movie directed by Michael Almereyda. John C. Reilly and David Bowie were the other two actors who stepped into the shoes of Tesla.
Cover Image Courtesy: Film4 (Cold War).
