Official Synopsis For Wally Pfister's 'Transcendence' Confirms A Bunch Of Rumors

While hints about Wally Pfister's Transcendence haven't been all that hard to come by, actual, confirmed facts have. Neither Pfister nor Warner Bros. has said much about the plot at all, even though the sci-fi drama has been the subject of much interest ever since it was first announced.

But today, a new official synopsis has arrived that not only verifies much of what we've heard before, but offers new clues about where the plotline is headed. Hit the jump to find out just what stars Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, and Paul Bettany will be doing in the movie.

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can...but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will's thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.

That more or less jibes with the story details we heard a year ago, and the bits and pieces that have come out since. Still, it's nice to know for sure what this movie's about.

Transcendence is Pfister's first-ever feature directorial effort, though he's logged plenty of time behind the camera as Christopher Nolan's favored cinematographer. Jess Hall (The Spectacular Now) has been enlisted to serve as Pfister's cinematographer here. The script comes from newcomer Jack Paglen.Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, and Kate Mara also star. Murphy is rumored to be playing the leader of the anti-technology extremists, while we've previously heard that Mara plays the recruiter who brings Bettany into this line of work. Transcendence opens April 18, 2014.