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Leonardo DiCaprio To Play Alan Turing?
mikejuk writes "2012 is the one hundredth anniversary of Alan Turing's birth, with many celebration events being planned around the world. This week Warner Bros outbid other companies for the script of a biopic based on Turing's life. The script for The Imitation Game, by first-time screenwriter Graham Moore and based in turn on the biography by Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma, was snapped up by Warner Bros in a 7-figure deal. Right now the leading candidate to portray Turing is Leonardo DiCaprio."
Shit that nobody cares about.
Can't have women drooling over a geek. Even if it's only an actor playing a geek. 'tis not natural. /jk
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
...although it would be ironic if the actor playing him would fail his test.
If Scorsese's directing, DiCaprio's leading.
If DiCaprio's leading, Scorsese's directing.
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
As long as the movie is of infinite length, and certain other conditions are observed, shouldn't it be possible for any actor to successfully play Turing, albeit quite possibly requiring impractical amounts of time to do so?
He is one of the last actors I would imagine to play character like Turing, a thoughtful man, mathematician, scientist.. Everything Leo isn't.
Personally I think this would be fantastic. Two of my favorite people. I think Leo is a superb actor and we all know what a fascinating and enigmatic person Turning was.
This doesn't sound like a moneymaker for Hollywood.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
oh... yeah
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
We've already seen the following actors in comparable roles:
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man
Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump
No need to see the same movie twice.
I predict they will ruin this more than they've ruined anything.
Some predictions on the content of the movie (any or all of these my apply): ...
Alan Turing will be played by Justin Beiber
Alan Turing will invent the Atomic Bomb
The movie will feature Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell and be titled Tango & Cash 2: The Alan Turing Story
Yeah baby!!!
A story on Turing could exploits a lot of interesting angles. He's an important figure in computer science AND in cryptography. His most prestigious work was done with WWII in the backdrop, and helped the allies tremendously. Finally, he has the total romantic yet misunderstood hero story - his contribution was a war secret, he was condemned for his homosexuality by the state he helped so much, and died a Plato death.
There's a kickass script to be made out of that.
Oh and DiCaprio is a fine choice. Great actor, versatile enough to pull it out and to let the character be the story.
Should've just made a Cryptonomicon movie. Way more interesting than what actually happened!
At least its not Keanu Reeves.
Enough said.
What's wrong with Eddie Murphy?
Mad scientist Alan "Mhz" Turing invents an intelligent robot that transforms into a flying car, which he uses to embark on a great journey into space where he will find true love with an alien prince (cue for love scene on front of spaceship) and, of course, get the idea for the first desktop computer. When he returns to Earth, he builds a prototype for his new invention, which surprisingly turns out to be a modern Mac (because in Hollywood all computers are Macs), however his contemporaries find out about his love with the alien, which forces him to abandon the Mac and travel back into space where he lives happily ever after as the queen of an alien planet. THE END. If this does well at the box office, expect a sequel in a couple of years.
Who else could understand Turing better?
Yes, the AC went off on a homophobic rant. However, I don't subscribe to the Freudian concept of homophobia as related to repressed homosexuality.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
I think Mr. Homophobic AC has a point with the female inhibition thing. However, that concept implies to me that it's a general male issue rather than an issue specific to _homosexual_ males - straight males would also act like that if straight females were more cooperative.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
a GAY geek. Don't forget that part.
I don't have any large issue with DiCaprio playing Turing. He is versatile, capable, and very hard working. However, the part should go to Jeremy Northam. It would have been a better age match if they tapped him 20 years ago, but there are other factors to consider than matching the actor's age to the character in his prime. I didn't know Turing, so it's just an impression, but I think Jeremy Northam would do a superb job. See The Winslow Boy and tell me I'm wrong.
At first I thought this is stupid, but then I went and looked at pictures of Turing, and there actually is a resemblance. And Leonardo is not a bad actor, even if he is not as good as the hype around him would indicate. Go for it.
Why do people remember Turing rather than Church and Post, both of whom developed their ideas independently of Turing and beat him to publication by quite a while (though Post's was submitted after Turing's) and both of whom made many further important contributions to mathematical logic and computational theory while Turing did not?
Why do people continue to erroneously associate Turing with the Colossus computer while Tommy Flowers is totally unremembered? Why has Turing's work at Bletchley Park etc overshadowed the efforts of Zuse, Shannon, Stibitz, Atanasoff, Eckert, Mauchly, and others whose efforts did so much more to make general-purpose computing a reality?
I can only see one answer: Turing was gay, and lots of people feel it's important to idolize homosexuals' contributions.
"Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius" playing another golf legend, Mr. Walter Hagen (who was from very near my area in fact... who was TRULY "my kind of guy" actually, except for his obsession with $)!
* He played THAT role, to a tee (pun intended)...
APK
P.S.=> I haven't seen him in anything else, but I will keep your suggestion in mind for future reference - because of his excellent portrayal of Walter Hagen... apk
I'll bet that the movie will focus on his persecution for homosexuality, and his death, even more than his inventions
"Ah, who's BETTER n' US, kid...?" -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ5Gr2joVe8&feature=related
APK
P.S.=> My fav. scenes though, lol, are when he shows up HAMMERED & HUNG OVER to golf matches as "Sir Walter" (lol & also when he says he's not FAMOUS, but rather, "infamous" too) and just KNOCKS THE SNOT outta everyone, easily (even Bobby Jones, initially when he's still green that is, not as much later once Mr. Jones got used to Walter's "psychological tactics")...
... apk
It could be a zany rom-com with a dog, a monkey using an abacus, and even fit in the gay angle somehow (maybe a fashion designer on the side, a la Zoolander?). Tom Cruise could be the romantic interest, fighting with Turing the whole time about how machines are evil and Xenu is the one true way, until the monkey, riding the dog, slaps Cruise with a fish and makes him realize the errors of his ways. Let Terry Gilliam direct.
Guaranteed $500 mil 1st weekend.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
That I can't wait to see, or the part where Turing blasts the incoming V2 with a couple of .45s held sideways. Gangsta style. While diving over a moving tank. In slow motion.
This is gonna be AWESOME.
I just can't wait to see Leo bite into the poisoned apple. The hormonal castration should be particularly dramatic too. Maybe they can get the political apology right in the film, and properly repent for a truly disgusting deed. But I still think Matt Damon would be a goodlier choice, based on the face. ....Well Alan, you were way ahead of your time, but we were still in the dark ages. Sorry about that, and thanks for all the help. PS: If you come back, try San Francisco, Rome, or maybe Key West; I hear they finally accepted that patterns of "indecency" are not always matters of choice, and even if they were, they're your own. And anyway, you're really not missing much - and CCTV never flatters the form.
Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made. - Otto von Bismarck
I have to smile, seeing SIRI+YOU are playing his imitation now all day.
Yes, Caprio is a sterling selection, but please no Guns'n Agents stuff, but more Beautiful Mind'esk. Turing thinking was far more fascinating.
FAIL if not includes his Mind about building a Brain by to get his passed kid friend Malcolm back:
a) by building a Mind from scratch with/inside a Computer (has to be invented)
b) in a Petri dish with chemicals (de novo rules had to be thought out)
c) How to make a neuron/code cocktail that evolves into human (imitation game)
c) Code breaking was just a job assignment. Enigma was just an "opponent". (Was asked, so did it brilliant for the job's sake; of course he was a perfectionist)
Think, he was planning to have a self-evolving SIRI thingy; but actually wanted a Malcolm-like thing. The "imitation game" thingy was just a selection rule for his self-evolving "would be" MALCOLM.
PS: I am curious who will act John v Neumann.
my 5c,
muenalan
Why not a British actor?
Great, yet another terrible fake English accent to look forward to. Why does Hollywood always hire British actors to portray the villains, yet never hires British actors to portray British characters?
Turing: WE NEED TO GO DEEPER
Megan Fox:: But sir, we don't have enough stack frames - the dream could collapse!
Turing: I SAID DEEPER, DAMNIT!
(queue explosions, wild chalkboard montages involving long sequences of seemingly nonsensical mathematical characters, flaming lightcycles ridden by the possessed cephalopods of the apocalypse and this sound)
better age match??
Türing was past 40 when he had the affair with the 20-something guy that led to his arrest and consequent suicide.
Leo's perfectly the right age for 40.
If he's not gay, I will literally spend all my effort burning this to the ground. I'm an English computer scientist, you don't fuck with Alan.
A homosexual invention by Alan Turing.
Who cares if he broke the german Enigma-code and won World War II.
IT'S A HOMO'S DEVIL MACHINE!
Max von Sydow played Jesus... LOL
I think the conclusion is that he could do it
Leonardo as gay Turning, a prospect one cannot await to happen! :-) :-) Cheers a Glory to Turing!
Isn't it ironic that a Jew and a homosexual helped end the war with such monumental scientific contributions? (Einstein with atomic bombs, Turing with cryptanalysis.) :)
Anyway, would love to see an unflinching movie on this great man's life! A true hero and my most favorite computer scientist ever. Tragic what happened to him later in life...
How long after the purchase will they prohibit anyone from using the term Turning Machine in any product or application?
http://code.google.com/p/moonblink/wiki/Tricorder
Sorry Tricorder fans, Tricorder has been deleted from the Android Market by Google, at the demand of CBS's legal weasels. This all happened without any discussion or warning -- I was simply notified after the fact.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
'nuff said
So this DiCaprio person actually passed the Turing Screen Test then, eh?
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Apparently even the Modbois are not immune to the Political Correctness bug. Hint, people: it means you can't think for yourself.
I am well aware that it is not the most popular viewpoint, but it's not "troll". It's the truth.
And now, they get an american to play Turing. This makes me want to cry, or blow something up, or both. Ironically, I actually don't think DiCaprio would be a bad choice, I think he could actually pull it off - but he shouldn't.
Leo has played real life gay chacters before and they are his worst unsympathetic performances. They were just horrible. I'm sure if he is to play Alan that everyone will come away thinking he was as straight as any of them. It will be another historical straight-washing of a famous gay character.His suicide was because he was found out to be gay, I wonder if they'll be brave enough to tell that end to the story? The whole gay aspect was conveniently ignored in Beautiful Mind, another great gay character played by a homophobe also.
This film has been rated NP Complete
tone
With the exception of the role he playing in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", he has been film after film trying to play roles he is thoroughly unsuited for. He tries to play roles made for guys much more macho or intelligent than he is. Other's have mentioned Keanu as being the type to fail the Turing test... but in reality, from the interviews I've seen with him, DiCaprio is often nearly as bad. I think it's terrible when you have little guy like DiCaprio who is in rush to grow up to be Matt Damon playing roles like these.
I think that DiCaprio needs someone to explain to him that he is not and never will be Bruce Willis (for pure testosterone), Matt Damon (for his ability to fake someone intelligent) or Al Pacino (for his sheer versatility and ability to play role such as the jew in "the merchant of venice"). Even worse is that someone needs to tell him that there is no way in hell he is a suitable replacement for Michael Clarke Duncan... he's too short, too small, too white and also not nearly smart enough.
He is at best who Heath Ledger was trying so hard not to be... a pretty little boy who will end up on posters in teenaged girls bedrooms.... though more like middle aged women now probably.
I truly hope they can find an actor far better suited for this role.
Well... maybe if they do a film about Babbage... Leo can play Ada.
You got the Mac part right, because the next computing-related movie will surely be a Jobs biopic.
Unless the name of the movie is Cryptonomicon, I'll take a pass. Otherwise Hella yeah!