Wally Pfister’s Transcendence, Starring Johnny Depp, Is Looking More Awesome By the Minute

We’re getting a surprising amount of information about the plot of the upcoming Johnny Depp-starring sci-fi flick Transcendence, considering it’s executive produced by the notoriously secretive Christopher Nolan and directed by Wally Pfister, a frequent collaborator of his. I remember that people were scratching their heads at what the heck Inception would be about even after the trailer was released. But courtesy of The Wrap, we now have a basic plot for the film… and it looks awesome.

Beware: If you consider basic plot information for a film that may undergo substantial revisions by the time it makes its way to your eyeballs spoilers, don’t click the jump, as they are unmarked. You’ve been warned.

According to a summary obtained by The Wrap, “the plot involves a scientist whose brain is uploaded into a supercomputer with the aim of creating the world’s first machine that can think for itself.” Because that’s going to end well.

The scientist in question, Will (Depp), is assassinated by a group of “anti-technology terrorists,” which leads fellow scientist Evelyn (also Will’s wife) to upload his brain to a supercomputer and connect it to the Internet, allowing him to continue his work. “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.” Dun-dun-dunnnnn.

Of the trio of main characters—Will, Evelyn, and Max, another scientist—only Will has been cast so far. Ewan McGregor reportedly passed on the role of Max based on an earlier draft of the script, while Tom Hardy had to decline because of a scheduling conflict. (Sadface.) The Wrap also shot down Noomi Rapace and Kate Winslet as possible Evelyns. Christian Bale, James McAvoy, Tobey Maguire, and Christoph Waltz have been rumored in the past as possible casting choices for unspecified roles, though who knows how accurate those rumors are.

Producer Andrew Kosove has “confirmed that singularity, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence are important to the script.” As for the more specific information mentioned above, a spokesman for production company Alcon was careful to mention that any plot details may be changed in the future or may already be out-of-date. This is a Nolan movie, remember. Maybe in a parallel universe everything wouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy, but not in this one.

(via: The Wrap)

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