Wally Pfister is pulling together a great cast for his first feature film project Transcendence. Prestige co-star Rebecca Hall has just joined the cast of the film, which also includes Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany.
From what we know of the film right now, Depp plays a scientist whose brain is uploaded into a supercomputer creating the world’s first machine that can think for itself. The story contains themes of singularity, and nanotechnology. Here's a more detailed breakdown of the story that was previously released,
A group of anti-technology terrorists assassinate Will, Evelyn uploads his brain into a prototype supercomputer. Although she at first finds the experiment seems to have gone wrong, before too long Evelyn finds Will responding in computer form.
She goes on to connect Will to the Internet so he can help make further scientific breakthroughs. Will asks Evelyn to connect a microphone and a camera up to the computer so he can see and speak to her as well.
Will creates a backup of himself to every computer in the world, and furthers his work through accessing online indexes. (Kosove told TheWrap this plot point is no longer in the script.) When the anti-technology organization finds out, they try to steal the supercomputer and destroy it, but Will no longer needs the computer to survive.
This sounds like it could be a very cool movie! Christopher Nolan is producing it, and it's set to be released on April 25th, 2014. Here's the press release:
LOS ANGELES, CA, MARCH 5, 2013 – Rebecca Hall is set to star alongside Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany in Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, TRANSCENDENCE, it was announced by Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, co-founders and co-CEOs of Alcon Entertainment, which is financing and producing the project.
Principal photography is set to begin in April in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. will release the film on April 25, 2014 via its output deal with Alcon.
Written by Jack Paglen, the screenplay was developed by Annie Marter and Straight Up Films, whose company principals include Marisa Polvino, Kate Cohen and Regency Boies. Polvino, Marter and Cohen will produce along with David Valdes (“Book of Eli”), Johnson and Kosove. Boies will co-produce. Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and Aaron Ryder are serving as executive producers.
Hall is known for such films as “The Town,” “Please Give”, “Frost/Nixon” and Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She also starred in Nolan’s “The Prestige” alongside Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine. Hall will next be seen in “Iron Man 3” for Marvel/Disney, “Closed Circuit” for Focus Features and “A Promise” directed by Patrice LeConte.
Pfister most recently served as cinematographer on “The Dark Knight Rises,” and on last year’s best picture nominee, “Moneyball.” Other credits include such films as “The Italian Job” and “Laurel Canyon.” Hall is repped by WME and Julian Belfrage Associates.