Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Bros. Drop ‘Imitation Game’

The story of Alan Turing is amazing. Seriously. One of the most brilliant and tragic figures of the 20th century, Turing's story is loaded with cinematic potential. It's the kind of role that'll win an actor the Best Actor Oscar and the kind of story that'll nab the Best Picture Oscar. With the right ingredients, it's a surefire great movie. Which is why it's baffling that Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Bros. are dropping their plans to film 'Imitation Game.'

An acclaimed screenplay that topped  last year's Black List (the annual collection of best un-produced screenplays), 'Imitation Game' was written by Graham Moore and based on the book 'Alan Turing: The Enigma.' It sold to Warner Bros. for a boatload of cash and DiCaprio immediately become attached to play Turing, the father of modern computing whose code-breaking prowess was key in defeating the Nazis during World War II (he later committed suicide after being outed as homosexuality). If you want the Turing story in a nutshell, this Radio Lab episode is a great place to start. It's riveting stuff.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that DiCaprio dropped the project first and Warner Bros. quickly followed suit, unprepared to make the film without a major star. Moore (who is currently adapting the acclaimed non-fiction book 'Devil the White City' for, of all people, DiCaprio) is currently seeking a new studio to take in 'Imitation Game.' Hopefully, no one else will get cold feet...this is a story that needs to be told.