He’s currently busy inhabiting Julian Assange’s blond mop for WikiLeaks film The Fifth Estate, but it appears that Benedict Cumberbatch is not quite finished playing real-life people. Deadline reports that he’s in talks to play Alan Turing in lauded script The Imitation Game.
If he does actually work out a deal, Cumberbatch could be a fine choice to play the genius that helped cracked the Enigma code during World War II, only to be prosecuted shortly after the war for being gay.
Graham Moore’s script has been waiting for its chance for a couple of years now, ever since Warner Bros. snapped it up from the Black List as a likely starring vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio. But despite a solid story, the project lingered, and though J Blakeson was attached to direct it, Warners eventually put it into limbo. Enter Black Bear Pictures, which stepped up with financing and attached Headhunters' Morten Tyldum to direct.
Assuming Cumberbatch does sign on, expect interest in this one to ratchet up several notches. The actor will next be seen in Star Trek Into Darkness, which warps in on May 17, and is set to appear in Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years A Slave. He’s also set to finally start shooting the next series of Sherlock in the next couple of months, which will have you all setting your phasers to "Squeee!". Let's hope he fits Turing onto that To Do list.