First look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in 'The Imitation Game'

Following news of the royal pardon for WWII code breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing for his "crime" in the '50s of being a homosexual, "The Imitation Game" reveals its first official image from the film.

 

The first official movie still of Benedict Cumberbatch as British computer pioneer and cryptographer Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game."

(Credit: Black Bear Pictures)
The very computer you use to read this story may not have been possible without the extraordinary work by computer pioneer, mathematician, and Bletchley Park cryptographer Alan Turing.
This week Turing received a posthumous royal pardon for being convicted in 1952 of homosexuality, which was then considered a crime. Turing had been given the choice of imprisonment or chemical castration. Shortly after choosing the chemical treatment, Turing committed suicide at the age of 41.

In honor of his long-overdue pardon (nearly 60 years after his death), the official Twitter account for the upcoming feature film about his life, "The Imitation Game," released its first still. The photo features actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars as Turing, in front of what could very well be the "bombe" -- one of the many computers Turing helped to create during his lifetime.

Due to hit theaters next year, "The Imitation Game" is directed by Morten Tyldum and stars Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Mark Strong Allen Leech, and Matthew Beard.