Given that he’s worked with Christopher Nolan for years, we expected to see and learn nothing about Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, Transcendence, until it was nearly ready for release. But the need to promote the original movie take precedence, so here, via Entertainment Weekly, are the first stills from the techno-thriller.
Johnny Depp stars as Will, a computer scientist deep into researching the singularity – the point at which artificial intelligence overtakes human and the two begin to merge. From the sounds of the film, that last part is taken literally here, as an incident forces Depp to upload his personality into the mainframe after anti-technology activists attack him.
So it appears that Will becomes a sort of Tron / Max Headroom figure (albeit with a classier wardrobe than the former and less of a computastic style than the latter) and those around him, including Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy and Rebecca Hall must interact with a virtual Depp. “It’s a very timely subject as we find we have to update the software on our cell phones before we can even make a call,” Pfister tells EW.
Transcendence is set to hit our screens on April 25, which means a trailer should be arriving soon.