Everyone seems to agree making a movie about Alan Turing is a good idea, and the script The Imitation Game has generated huge amounts of buzz, but it’s taken quite a while to get it off the ground. That’s partly due to Leo DiCaprio signing on to star and then leaving the project behind, as well a several directors coming and going.
Now it’s moving forward with Benedict Cumberbatch set to play Turing, and Variety reports Keira Knightley is in talks to join him.
Turing is famed for helping the Allies defeat the Germans in World War II by breaking codes and building machines that were the forerunners of modern computers (which were based on his theories). However, in the 1950s he was prosecuted by the British government for being gay.
Turing made the extreme decision to undergo chemical castration instead of going to prison. In 1954 he died from cyanide poisoning, with many believing he killed himself by dosing an apple with the substance (although there are still some who believe it was accidental).
There’s no news on exactly who Knightley will play. Morten Tyldum (Headhunters) is set to direct from Graham Moore’s script.