After sitting in development for a few years, the chances of Graham Moore’s script The Imitation Game seeing the projector's light got a healthy boost this year with the hiring of director Morten Tyldum and Sherlock star/vowel thief Benedict Cumberbatch. It appears the film now has a female lead, as Keira Knightley is in talks to co-star.
Moore’s script is based on the life of Alan Turing, the maths whizz who helped crack the German Enigma code during World War II and who, despite his heroism and genius, was persecuted for his homosexuality in the 1950s.
Variety offers no clue as to what exact role Knightley will be playing even if she does lock in a contract, but the casting of two high-profile actors and the much-praised Headhunters filmmaker certainly gives us cause for hope that the film will finally get made. With luck, it’ll be shooting this year around Cumberbatch and Knightley’s busy schedules.
Knightley (who previously shared a cast list with Cumberbundle in Atonement) was last seen in Anna Karenina and will next crop up in **Jack Ryan (due December 26) and indie drama Can A Song Save Your Life?. **She’s also busy filming Laggies with Chloë Moretz and Sam Rockwell.