Wally Pfister is "privileged" to have Johnny Depp star in his first feature film.
The cinematographer-turned-director - who has previously worked on Christopher Nolan's films including 'The Dark Knight' trilogy - says it's a big vote of confidence to have top actors such as Depp and Morgan Freeman sign up to star in sci-fi thriller 'Transcendence'.
He said: "I was very privileged on my very first film to have that kind of talent. They made the experience both comforting and artistically fulfilling.
"Johnny loved the script when he read it. I think he thought he could do something fun and interesting with the character. There were a lot of conversations together to decide what we wanted to do and how we wanted him on screen."
In 'Transcendence', Johnny plays Will Caster, a scientist who works to create an artificial intelligence (AI) that is smarter than any living human. But his work is disrupted when an anti-technology terrorist group attempts to assassinate him and sabotage his research.
Wally was determined to ground the film in real science and had the script properly vetted by researchers.
He added in an interview with SFX magazine: "'Transcendence' is a contemporary film and all the science has been vetted by university professors. I spoke to professors at MIT, Stanford, Berkeley and Caltech about everything from neuroscience and neurobiology to nanotechnology and artificial intelligence."
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