Despite a Black List and an apparently-attached big star, the J. Blakeson-directed and Graham Moore-penned The Imitation Game will not be getting made at Warner Bros. Variety reports that the film’s “progress-to-production option had expired, and Warners has decided to not move forward,” which is Hollywood legalese for “the film was supposed to have started by this time, did not, and whoopsie, that was a clause in our agreement.”
Producers Nora Grossman and Ido Ostrowsky will now take the script to other studios in hopes that someone else will pick up the tragic story of the “father of computer science.” Warner picked up the film’s script back in October (paying a reported seven-figure sum), mainly under the assumption that Leonardo DiCaprio would star in it and that they film could be fashioned as an awards season contender. THR reports that DiCaprio’s interest in the project has now waned, and that was another factor in Warner’s decision to not renew their agreement.
However, Moore and DiCaprio are still in business with WB for another project – Moore was set to pen an adaptation of “The Devil in the White City” for DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Warners back in December.