Tesla, World Leader (2012)

Production on a massive blockbuster about Nikola Tesla is finally set to kick off this fall. We’re looking at some heavy hitters from Hollywood: Nicolas Cage is slated to play Thomas Edison, while Christian Bale is taking on the role of Tesla himself.

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reuters.com

I’m not exactly sold on this casting. Don't get me wrong, Christian Bale is a phenomenal actor, but isn't this going to be an incredibly demanding role even for him?

Producer: Steven Spielberg
Director: Mike Newell

Let's not forget that we owe our entire modern lifestyle—everything from our TVs and laptops to massive industrial factories—to the alternating current pioneered by Nikola Tesla.

The direct current pushed by Thomas Edison is still useful, sure, but it's mostly relegated to things like remote control batteries, handheld gadgets, and portable power cells.

It feels like most people still don't grasp just how monumental Nikola Tesla's legacy truly is, so I can only hope this movie finally presents him in the light he deserves.

We've seen plenty of documentaries and biographies over the years, but we have yet to see his story told properly on the big screen.

Betty Hayes10 said:There have certainly been plenty of documentaries, feature films, and biographies produced about Tesla, but I suppose we haven't actually had the chance to see him portrayed on the big screen quite like this before.

So, what exactly are we looking at here? The Secret of Nikola Tesla (1980)
Or perhaps it is the series Nikola Tesla (1977)

Did they actually get a theatrical release for these movies?

As far as I know, they mostly just dropped them straight to streaming. 🤷
Regardless, this is a massive Hollywood production, so isn't it obvious that way more people will end up watching it than some random flick from the 80s?

The Secret... used to be a staple in theaters, though I suppose if you're young, you might not recall it. 😁
Given how things usually work in Hollywood, I imagine it would be quite a shock if they didn't include an alien invasion or some massive explosions. 😁

mistyotter35 said:But what exactly are we looking at here? Is it The Secret of Nikola Tesla (1980)
Or perhaps the series Nikola Tesla (1977)

Even in The Prestige, there are mentions of him, along with a whole host of other films... honestly, given the state of some indie productions lately, I'm starting to worry about the quality of these upcoming projects. 🙄

mistyotter35 said:That secret... was playing in theaters everywhere. Maybe you're just too young to remember. 😁
Knowing how Hollywood works, if there aren't aliens and massive explosions, people will actually be surprised. 😁

There will definitely be some special effects in this movie, but I doubt they'll go that far. 😁

This has to be some kind of scam, claiming they’re casting Megan Fox and Jessica Alba for supporting roles.😁

Every so often, rumors about this movie being in development seem to resurface, and I must admit, I feel a growing sense of unease given just how extensive and detailed that article was. While I truly hope they move forward with a biopic about Tesla, I sincerely pray it isn't an American production driven by petty political bickering, because if it is, we might be subjected to two and a half hours of endless, exhausting arguments where the 🙂
becomes the primary focus. As for the casting, while Christian Bale would be an absolutely stellar choice for the lead, I find myself genuinely puzzled as to what role Megan Fox could possibly play in such a film 😕

Maybe this turns into some big remake, or just a director’s personal take on what Tesla’s life was actually like. Or—who knows—maybe they’ll wrap it in some weird fantasy setting, kind of like *The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen*, even if that has absolutely nothing to do with reality. They might even try to spin it as this epic showdown between Tesla and Edison, even though, honestly, it wasn't nearly that dramatic 😛

PS To the OP: everything you mentioned about AC being the main driver—it just isn't. I mean, maybe for certain industrial motors in a factory, sure, but generally? Not really. In fact, nowadays, like 99% of our gadgets—especially since computing took off—actually run on DC. 😁

Frank Chase6 said:PS to the OP, everything you listed runs on AC—it doesn't run on DC, unless you're talking about some heavy industrial motors in a factory. In reality, 99% of modern devices, especially since computing took off, actually operate on direct current. 😁

What exactly do power lines carry if not electricity? Where do your TVs, washing machines, water heaters, and all those other appliances pull their energy from? If we cut the high-voltage lines, are you going to be able to charge your phone? Are you planning on buying a brand new battery at the store every single day just to keep your mobile running? 😕

Leonardo, and Tesla... It doesn't get any better than that.

Today, the US military actually uses Tesla's wireless energy transfer experiments. The man was lightyears ahead of his time! And honestly? The idea of this "Prince of the Desert" directing a film actually sounds pretty great to me.

Betty Hayes10 said:What exactly are power lines carrying? Where do your TVs, washing machines, water heaters, and all those other gadgets get their energy from? If we just cut the transmission lines, are you going to be able to charge your phone? Are you planning on hitting up the store every single day to buy a fresh battery for your cell? 😕

Well, I ended up answering myself—he basically revolutionized how we move electricity around. But honestly, most things run on DC nowadays, including that TV you love bringing up, and even a water heater can work with either type of current. As for the washing machine, it uses an AC induction motor simply because they’re cheaper and easier to build—plus, if you’ve already got AC coming out of your wall outlet, why bother with anything more complicated? Actually, pretty much everything that uses an adapter runs on DC, which makes those adapters a necessary evil in this setup. Since almost everything today relies on electronics and runs on DC, we're stuck with them, even though semiconductor rectifiers are slowly starting to take over.

Anyway, it's always cool to see yet another movie about Tesla 🙂

Frank Chase6 said:So I just gave myself the answer: he revolutionized power transmission, but most things run on DC anyway—including that TV you love to bring up. Even a water heater can run on either type, while a washing machine uses an AC induction motor simply because they're cheaper and easier to build when you already have AC at the outlet, even if it isn't "better." In reality, everything using an adapter runs on DC, making those adapters a necessary evil in the tech stack; nowadays, since almost every device relies on electronics and thus requires DC, adapters remain a necessary evil, even if they're gradually being replaced by semiconductor rectifiers.

Anyway, it's always nice to see yet another movie about Tesla 🙂

You're spot on. They run on DC while pulling from AC. If it weren't for Tesla, we wouldn't have either. We'd be running to the store for bulky batteries that would die in an hour. Actually, we wouldn't even have that, because mass-producing laptops and TVs wouldn't be possible. We'd be living like our ancestors did 200 years ago, maybe trying to warm up chicks with 40W light bulbs and buying new batteries every single day. Oh, Mr. Edison, thanks so much for the DC. 😁

Look, you have to realize that electricity, motors, generators, and power plants were all around long before Tesla came along—everything from that era was already running on electric power 🤣
. It’s not like they were out there trying to light up entire cities using some massive bank of 1000-watt batteries.

Come on, Frank Chase6, just admit it! How much are those American lobbyists paying you to push Edison?

The Balkanite in me really wants to say it's not nearly enough—but if you actually listen to what I've been saying, you'll see I feel differently 😁

Frank Chase6 said:Do you honestly think electricity, motors, generators, and power plants just appeared out of thin air once Tesla arrived, or were people already running the world on electrical grids before him? They certainly weren't lighting up cities using a thousand massive battery packs back then. 🤣

Sure, I get that, but have you actually looked at what we rely on today? What is the foundation of our entire modern civilization? It wasn't just about changing how energy moves from point A to point B; he fundamentally restructured the way the world functions, and I suspect that’s exactly the angle this movie is going to take.

Everything we actually needed to grasp about Tesla, we already covered back in school.
I have my doubts about whether they’ll present him the right way—you know, without turning his life story into some sort of over-the-top Hollywood production like
Tesla Superstar. Honestly? I think if they go that route, they’re just going to end up burying his actual legacy under all the fluff.

If the director happens to be a total Tesla fan, I suppose they’ll just turn him into some sort of mythic hero and credit him with inventing every single thing under the sun, much like the way those writers over at Wired tend to do. I suspect that without all that mystical nonsense, the movie would just slip by unnoticed, though I have a feeling it might end up being a flop regardless.

mistyotter35 said:If the director happens to be a Tesla fan, they’re going to turn him into some sort of mystical hero—you know, attributing every single invention under the sun to him—much like those conspiracy theorists you see scrolling through endless threads on Reddit. Because let's face it, without that kind of mystical fluff, the movie would just fade into obscurity... though, honestly, I have a feeling it might end up being a bit of a dud regardless.

Bravo! 👍