Late last year, it was announced that Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan’s trusted cinematographer for such films as ‘Memento’, ‘Inception’, and the Dark Knight trilogy, would be making his directorial debut with ‘Transcendence’ starring Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall. The whole production has been kept tightly under wraps, so it’s been a little bit of a mystery concerning what we should expect, but recently the studio released an official synopsis, so we have a better idea of what this new kid on the block has in store.
In addition to that that new blurb making its rounds, a few new stills have hit the web as well. Entertainment Weekly unveiled these pictures featuring Depp as Dr. Will Caster, an AI researcher that uploads his consciousness into his computer when his life is in danger, along with co-stars Hall, Morgan Freeman, and Cillian Murphy. You can check them out below, followed by the film’s synopsis:
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.
If you notice, the most peculiar thing about these pictures is that Depp looks relatively normal. In recent history, we’ve seen him as a vampire, a sassy pirate, a famous gangster, the Lone Ranger’s sidekick, and a lizard, so compared to the rest of the entries on the actor’s IMDB page, this one is considerably more based in reality. Of course, there is the whole uploading his brain into a computer thing, but that could totally be a thing in the near future. Definitely sooner than a wolf singing and dancing alongside Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, and Anna Kendrick.
What do you think of the latest stills from Wally Pfister’s first film as a director? How do you think he’ll fare without Christopher Nolan on set working with him? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
‘Transcendence’ starring Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall, Cillian Murphy, Clifton Collins Jr., Kate Mara, and Paul Bettany will be released on April 18, 2014.
