Johnny Depp to star in Wally Pfister's directorial debut, 'Transcendence'

Outside of whatever superhero movies Marvel and Warner Bros. are cooking up, the film that I think more people have been anxiously awaiting more information on is Wally Pfister's directorial debut. As Christopher Nolan's longtime cinematographer, the expectations are monumentally high, and now they're about to shoot through the roof.

Johnny Depp has entered talks to star in Transcendence, which is the newly revealed title of the film, which Pfister recently described as "present day science fiction" with a "big concept". The script comes from Jack Paglen, and THR has a more fleshed out description of the plot, stating that it  "centers on a man who creates a computer that develops a malevolent awareness. Depp will play a husband who gets sucked into the computer."  

How is this not Tron? Anyway, apparently Depp will only participate if some changes can be made to the script. Like what? He need a digital goatee or something? Not sure what that could mean. Anyway, Depp is scoring a huge payday for this one, as expected for a guy of his remarkable drawing power. Pfister has apparently made an offer out to Christoph Waltz for one supporting role, and has Noomi Rapace, Tobey Maguire, and James McAvoy in his sights for others.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the reason why Depp had to back out of Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Transcendence is being co-produced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, and begins filming early next year.