BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » The Imitation Game

Sentimental Pulse · February 6, 2013 1:32 am

I know I've been AWOL for a bit with family issues but I did ntt see anything on this blurb yet. I am sure it is mentioned in umpteen threads but here it is anyway

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/04/benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing

Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks to play the British mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing in forthcoming biopic The Imitation Game,reports Deadline.

The Sherlock star may step into the shoes of Leonardo DiCaprio, who was frontrunner to play Turing when the film was announced in 2011. The project has the ring of Oscar bait: it is based on a script by first-time screenwriter Graham Moore, which was bought by Warner Bros for a seven-figure sum after making 2011's Black List of the most popular unfilmed screenplays in Hollywood.

Turing was a wartime hero credited with cracking the German Enigma code at Britain's Bletchley Park codebreaking centre, but his life was destroyed by the period's anti-homosexuality laws. Police arrested Turing in 1952 after learning of his sexual relationship with a young Manchester man. He made no denial or defence during his trial and, rather than go to prison, accepted injections of synthetic oestrogen intended to neutralise his libido.

Turing continued to work part-time for GCHQ, the postwar successor to Bletchley Park, but his mental health is said to have suffered, and he was shut out of Britain's security operations as the country's alliance with the US increased over fears of cold war spying. He was found dead by his cleaner in 1954. The coroner's verdict was suicide, though Turing's mother believed he had accidentally ingested cyanide after a chemistry experiment. In 2009 Gordon Brown made a public apology on behalf of the British government for the way Turing was treated.

Cumberbatch is flying high in Hollywood after securing roles as the main villain in Star Trek into Darkness and as the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. He will also play Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate, a film about the WikiLeaks founder's early struggles, and is set for roles in Steve McQueen's highly anticipated Twelve Years a Slaveand the film adaptation of Tracy Letts's Pulitzer prize-winning playAugust: Osage County.

Turing was excised entirely from the best-known recent film about Bletchley Park, 2001's Enigma. Michael Apted's film cast Dougray Scott as Tom Jericho, a character who seemed to have all the qualities of Turing, bar one vital fact: he was not homosexual and romances Kate Winslet's character.

SusiGo · February 6, 2013 7:54 am

Good to hear from you again, SP . I hope you are well. There is a thread on this but without your link. Maybe they can me merged.

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=52998#p52998

Davina · February 6, 2013 8:31 am

Hey! SP...I've just PMd you. Nice to hear from you

Sentimental Pulse · February 6, 2013 11:57 am

Thank you ladies. I have missed you all. Sorry for the double thread. I wear glasses for a reason

SusiGo · February 17, 2013 6:58 pm

It's confirmed! I'm very excited to see him in that film. Maybe we could rename this thread or use the other one called The Imitation Game.

http://blackbearpictures.com/films-coming-soon/the-imitation-game/

And here's some (maybe outdated) information about the script. It's from the time when Leonardo DiCaprio was said to play Turing but it's nevertheless interesting.

http://scriptshadow.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/imitation-game.html?m=1

Last edited by SusiGo (February 17, 2013 7:01 pm)

KeepersPrice · February 17, 2013 9:34 pm

From Susi's link about the script: OMG does this sound familiar!

"But Alan is a different kind of beast. Although it's never said during the screenplay - it's evident that Alan has some form of autism. He's amazing with puzzles and numbers but has absolutely zero social graces. This makes him a huge burden to work with. And as soon as he pops into the group, he's hated or ignored by everyone.

We also jump back to a third time period – 1927 - when Alan was 15. Obviously, because he was so strange, he often got bullied and beat up. There was one kid, however, who saw beyond what the other kids saw. His name was Christopher and he was tall and striking and cool and nice, the exact kind of person you’d expect to never give Alan the time of day. But the two struck up a close friendship, which would prove to be the most important friendship of Alan's life."

anjaH_alias · February 17, 2013 10:15 pm

SusiGo wrote:
It's confirmed! I'm very excited to see him in that film. Maybe we could rename this thread or use the other one called The Imitation Game.

http://blackbearpictures.com/films-coming-soon/the-imitation-game/

And here's some (maybe outdated) information about the script. It's from the time when Leonardo DiCaprio was said to play Turing but it's nevertheless interesting.

http://scriptshadow.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/imitation-game.html?m=1

That´s really interesting, thanks for posting! The enigma has always fascinated me (we have two of these cipher machines in that museum in Berlin where I am working as a guide). And when I was in London last week I went to the Science Museum and right at the moment they run a special exhibition about Alan Turing (with at least one original enigma also and a lot of material from and about Turing). So, as I know, some of you are going to London soon - could be a good idea then (and especially with children it´s alway worth to go there)....

SusiGo · February 17, 2013 10:17 pm

Thank you for the information, didn't know about the exhibition at the Science Museum. Sounds interesting.

anjaH_alias · February 17, 2013 10:29 pm

SusiGo wrote:
Thank you for the information, didn't know about the exhibition at the Science Museum. Sounds interesting.

It was there last week but I didn´t look how long it lasts - but this should be easy to find out ....

anjaH_alias · February 17, 2013 10:30 pm

Got it - it´s still there in March! http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/galleries/turing.aspx

SusiGo · February 18, 2013 7:31 am

Thank you very much, Anja.

SusiGo · May 16, 2013 8:30 am

From a new interview for Rolling Stone:

If given any opportunity, what role would you play next?
Alan Turing. That's the person I'm playing after Sherlock's third season finishes. Turing is one of the biggest unsung heroes of our day – he basically built the origins of the computer. His homosexuality was exposed in the fifties, a horrendously intolerant time in our history. But his intelligence was how we won the second World War, it is as simple as that. He did it. He cracked the enigma code. This is going to be an exploration of his quiet, unique and difficult personality, sure, but mainly it'll introduce this man to a new generation who haven't heard about his exploits before.

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/q-a-benedict-cumberbatch-on-star-trek-sherlock-and-julian-assange-20130515

SusiGo · June 5, 2013 6:29 am

Here's some new information on the film. Keira Knightley has been cast.

http://cumbertrekky.tumblr.com/post/52203642793/keira-knightley-to-star-opposite-benedict-cumberbatch

Davina · June 5, 2013 7:32 am

I admire Keira's work greatly. I think she will do a fine job! Have you seen her in 'A Dangerous Method'?

SusiGo · June 5, 2013 7:44 am

No, I haven't but it sounds interesting. I read a bit about Joan Clarke, the character she's going to play in Imitation Game. She was an interesting woman and she and Turing had a moving relationship.

SusiGo · June 6, 2013 9:38 am

More news:

Black Bear Pictures ‏@blackbearpics 4 Jun
You've asked and we answer: filming of The Imitation Game will commence September 16th in and around London

besleybean · June 7, 2013 9:27 pm

Can't wait to see this!

Mattlocked · June 7, 2013 9:45 pm

So he will die............again. And probably cry, too.

Last edited by Mattlocked (June 7, 2013 9:45 pm)

besleybean · June 7, 2013 9:47 pm

Turing's whole story is incredibly moving.

SusiGo · September 16, 2013 8:48 am

I have read some books on Turing and I am very excited about this film. It is a fascinating and moving story. Filming has just started (I was thrilled to see that Benedict had cut his hair at TIFF) and today the full cast list will be published. I will follow this project closely and hope that the script will stick to the truth as much as possible. Basically you do not have to invent anything. It is all there.

http://m.screendaily.com/5060461.article

Last edited by SusiGo (September 16, 2013 9:39 am)