After working alongside Christopher Nolan for 12 years, serving as cinematographer on every one of Nolan’s films since Memento, Wally Pfister is finally getting behind the camera to direct his own feature, the sci-fi thriller Transcendence. The film follows Johnny Depp as Will Caster, a controversial scientist obsessed with the theory of singularity: where the evolution of artificial intelligence begins to outpace the evolution of human beings.
When an assassination attempt leaves him hospitalized and near death, he convinces his colleagues to transfer his consciousness into a computer, enabling him to continue his work after his physical body has deteriorated. But as Will’s intellect begins to grow exponentially, his thirst for knowledge may become the very thing that destroys him… along with the rest of us.
Transcendence is set to hit theaters on April 17.
Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.
johnny depp morgan freeman rebecca hall transcendence wally pfister