Is Wally Pfister’s Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp, about a self-aware computer?

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Here’s a film that may ultimately prove not to be up our alley, but when you have a a creative team that includes Christopher Nolan and his trusted cinematographer – and a plot that may involve a self-aware and deadly computer – you pay attention.

Film in question is TRANSCENDENCE, which will be the directorial debut of Oscar winning D.P. Wally Pfister (INCEPTION, THE DARK KNIGHT). Johnny Depp will star, while Christopher Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas are producing the sci-fi film, Warner Brothers will distribute.

According to The Wrap, TRANSCENDENCE follows three scientists who are attempting work on stem cell and advanced computer technology, which will change the fundamentals of human life. Tension comes into play when they are met by protest and resistance.

Fair enough, but protest and resistance from whom? Or what? According to The Hollywood Reporter’s original article about Depp’s involvement, the film deserves comparison to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, in that it centers on a man who creates a computer that develops a malevolent awareness. The site also adds that Depp will play a husband who gets sucked into the computer.

Apparently, Noomi Rapace (pictured below), Tobey Maguire, James McAvoy and Christoph Waltz are all in talks to join Depp, but nothing is confirmed yet on that front.

Hopefully all of the facts are laid out soon enough; TRANSCENDENCE is scheduled to begin filming at some point in February, so it seems logical to assume we’ll know much more about this ambitious project in the coming months.