By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND KEIRA KNIGHTLEY LEAD A TOP-FLIGHT CAST IN “THE IMITATION GAME”

Posted Monday, September 16th, 2013 - Comments Off on BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND KEIRA KNIGHTLEY LEAD A TOP-FLIGHT CAST IN “THE IMITATION GAME”
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September 15, 2013 Start of Principal Photography in the UK Announced by Black Bear Pictures

 LONDON, 16 SEPTEMBER, 2013: THE IMITATION GAME, which began principal photography in the UK yesterday, is a dramatic portrayal of the life and work of one of Britain’s most extraordinary unsung heroes, Alan Turing.

The pioneer of modern-day computing, Turing is credited with cracking the German Enigma code and the film is a nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team at Britain’s top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British Establishment, but his work and legacy live on.

 Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Fifth Estate“, “Star Trek Into Darkness“, and TV’s “Sherlock“) and Keira Knightley (BAFTA nominee for “Atonement”, Oscar® nominee for “Pride and Prejudice“) will star as Alan Turing and his close friend and fellow code-breaker Joan Clarke, alongside a top-notch cast, including Matthew Goode (“Stoker”, “A Single Man“), Mark Strong (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy“), Rory Kinnear (“Skyfall”), Charles Dance (“Gosford Park“, TV’s “Game of Thrones“), Allen Leech (“In Fear”, TV’s “Downton Abbey“) and Matthew Beard (“An Education“).

Norwegian filmmaker Morten Tyldum, 2012’s BAFTA nominee for “Headhunters“, is directing from a screenplay by Graham Moore, based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew Hodges.

Black Bear Pictures’ Teddy Schwarzman is producing alongside Nora Grossman and Ido Ostrowsky, with Moore as executive producer and Peter Heslop (“The King’s Speech”) as co-producer. Behind-the camera talent includes director of photography Óscar Faura (“The Impossible”), editor William Goldenberg (Oscar® winner for “Argo”), production designerMaria Djurkovic (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), hair and make-up designer Ivana Primorac(“Anna Karenina”), casting director Nina Gold (“Les Miserables”) and composer Clint Mansell (“Black Swan”).

FilmNation Entertainment is handling International Sales, with CAA representing US Domestic. STUDIOCANAL has all rights in the UK.

BLACK BEAR PICTURES

Launched in 2011, Black Bear Pictures is a New York based film production and financing company. Black Bear strives to produce original, engaging and commercial films that stand out within their genre. With two to four films slated for production each year, Black Bear focuses on developing, producing and financing wide-release films with unique points of view and specialty films with crossover potential from original voices.

 FILMNATION ENTERTAINMENT

Founded in 2008 by veteran international film executive Glen Basner, FilmNation Entertainment is a new kind of film company – global, versatile and full-service; and is a go-to destination for many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers. FilmNation can board a project in a myriad of ways (as a producer, financier, sales agent, international distributor or marketer) and at any stage in a film’s lifespan including development.

FilmNation’s upcoming sales line-up showcases the work of many of today’s most exciting, established and up-and-coming filmmakers, and includes three 2013 Cannes Official Selections: Alexander Payne’s Nebraska starring Bruce Dern; Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ringstarring Emma Watson; and J.C. Chandor’s All Is Lost starring Robert Redford.

The upcoming sales line-up also includes: Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skinwith Scarlett Johansson, an In Competition film at this year’s Venice Film Festival and an Official Selection of the Toronto International Film Festival; Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups and an untitled project; David Michôd’s The Roverstarring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson; Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Rachel McAdams; Genius starring Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender; the untitled Marc Lawrence romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei; The Rules of Inheritance starring Jennifer Lawrence; among others.

Production vet Aaron Ryder heads up FilmNation’s production arm. Previously released this year was Jeff Nichols’ critically acclaimed Mud, a 2012 Cannes competition selection,starring Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Michael Shannon and Reese Witherspoon; and Dan Beers’ teen sex comedy Premature. FilmNation is in development on Nic Mathieu’s Story Of Your Life.

 

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon