The Imitation Game, a biopic about famous mathematician Alan Turing, was one of the most talked about screenplays featured on the 2011 Black List - the annual list of the most popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood - and now it seems that the project is finally making some headway and moving towards production. Morten Tyldum, the Scandinavian filmmaker who turned heads directing the 2011 thriller Headhunters, has been hired by Black Bear Pictures and Ampersand Pictures to bring Turing's story to the big screen.
Deadline, which first reported the news, notes the full history of the project's journey through Hollywood, which has had its fair share of false starts. Warner Bros. first purchased the script in a seven figure deal and it looked like Leonardo DiCaprio was interesting in starring. J. Blakeson, who last made the indie thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed in 2009, was brought on to helm, but the studio wasn't able to act fast enough on the deal and the rights reverted back to writer Graham Moore (who will be an executive producer on the project). While it hasn't been confirmed, it appears as though Black Bear Pictures is planning to finance the film itself and then search for distribution later, hoping to capitalize on the script's buzz.
During his life Turing was best known for helping crack the Enigma Code during World War II, a key component in allowing the Allies to fight off the Germans and finally win the conflict. Sadly his great work was ignored in the post-war world as he was chemically castrated by the British government for being a homosexual in the early 1950s and soon after took his own life.
Tyldum has been directing since 1996 but didn't make his solo feature debut until 2003 when he made the Norwegian romantic dramedy Buddy. He also directed the 2008 crime thriller Fallen Angles.
