Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘The Current War,’ Rooney Mara’s ‘Mary Magdalene’ Get Awards-Friendly Release Dates

The Weinstein Company is gearing up for awards season early with announced release dates for two extremely high-profile upcoming films. The first, Mary Magdalene, which stars Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, will hit the big screen November 24, followed by The Current War, Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon’s historical drama, on December 22.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mary Magdalene stars Mara as that Mary Magdalene, and tells the story of how she came to be one of Jesus’ devoted followers. Joaquin Phoenix will play Jesus, and Ejiofor will play Peter. The release date is just a day after this year’s Thanksgiving, in the sweet spot in the middle of that long weekend, with TWC probably hoping for a theater run that’ll take it right through the holiday season.

The Current War, by contrast, focuses on the drama between Thomas Edison (played by Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Shannon) as the two battled for supremacy over how best to channel electricity, the turn of the century’s hottest commodity. The film also stars Katherine Waterston, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Matthew Macfayden and Tuppence Middleton. December 22 marks its limited opening, just in time to qualify for the Oscars, with a wider release on January 19, 2018.