Christopher Nolan’s long-time cinematographer Wally Pfister is set to make his directorial debut with Transcendence, a secretive sci-fi project that already has Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany on board.  You may now add The Town’s Rebecca Hall to that enticing cast.  Transcendence opens on April 25, 2014.  Hit the jump for full details on Hall’s casting announcement. 

The cast for the much-anticipated Transcendence is starting to take shape.  Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister is making his directorial debut on the secretive project, and Johnny Depp is set to star in the lead role.  Today it was announced that Paul Bettany has boarded the pic, though details regarding his role are being kept firmly under wraps.  The story is rumored to revolve around a scientist whose brain gets uploaded into a supercomputer with the aim of creating the world’s first machine that can think for itself.  Actresses rumored for the female lead include Rooney Mara, Rebecca Hall, and Emily Blunt, but we haven’t heard anything on that front in a while.

Nolan is exectuvie producing the project, which was written by Jack Paglen.  Production begins this April in Los Angeles and Warner Bros. is eyeing a “mid 2014” release date, so I expect this will be a big, mind-bending summer tentpole not unlike Inception.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Before I dive headfirst into what could be considered overselling to the “nth degree”, I have a disclaimer: I’m a total sucker for nostalgia-inducing, high school-centric, coming of age films. With that out of the way, I cannot recommend enough that you watch author/writer/director Stephen Chboksy‘s adaptation of his own novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as soon as possible. The pic hit Blu-ray/DVD this past week and over the course of 24 hours I rented it, watched it, loved it, returned it (yes, somehow late fees are still a thing…), and purchased it for my own collection. I could go on and on about the emotional note the movie hit for me at every turn but I’ll spare you the fanboy torment. Suffice to say that I’ll be looking back fondly on this one for quite a while.

My “Blu-ray/DVD pick of the week” aside, this week’s installment features a week of Die Hard that includes Matt revisiting the entire franchise and A Good Day to Die Hard interviews with Bruce Willis and more, coverage from Steve’s visit to the set of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, a slew of video interviews from this year’s VES Awards including talks with Ang Lee and Wally Pfister just to name a few, Beautiful Creatures interviews with Emmy Rossum and more, and a healthy amount of images from the floor of Toy Fair 2013. Yep, you guessed it, a brief recap and link to each of the above can be found on the other side.

While most know Wally Pfister as Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer; that’s about to change, as Pfister will soon make his directorial debut on an original sci-fi project called Transcendence.  The film stars Johnny Depp as a scientist whose brain gets uploaded into a supercomputer with the aim of creating the world’s first machine that can think for itself.

Earlier tonight, I was on the red carpet at the VES Awards (Visual Effects) and managed to get a few minutes with Pfister.  We talked about his love of IMAX, whether or not digital cameras will ever get to the point where they can capture an IMAX quality image, will shoot Transcendence on film, digital, IMAX, or another format, where it’s shooting and when, how he landed Depp, whether or not he will be shooting the film himself or if he’s hiring a director of photography, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for the video and transcript.

Just yesterday some intriguing plot details for director Wally Pfister’s upcoming sci-fi film Transcendence landed online, and now it appears that the female lead has been narrowed down to three actress.  Pfister, who is Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer, is making his feature directorial debut on the project which stars Johnny Depp as a scientist whose brain gets uploaded into a supercomputer with the aim of creating the world’s first machine that can think for itself.  The story also involves two other leads that are also scientists, a character named Evelyn who is Depp’s wife, and a character named Max.

Per Deadline, Rooney Mara, Emily Blunt, and Rebecca Hall (The Town) are all in the running for the role of Evelyn, with a decision due to be made on Friday.  Blunt’s dates on the Tom Cruise-fronted sci-fi actioner All You Need Is Kill are still being worked out, so the report notes that the conflict could affect her availability. These are three fine actresses with tremendous talent, so whatever the final result may be, I think Transcendence is in good shape.  Production is set to begin on March 4th.

When it was announced that director Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister would be making his directorial debut on an original sci-fi project called Transcendence, it wasn’t exactly shocking that plot details were being kept under wraps.  Nolan’s films have been wrapped in a similar amount of intrigue and secrecy, with the initial logline for Inception describing the film only as “a thriller set within the architecture of the mind.”  We recently reported that Johnny Depp was in talks to star in the film, and along with the casting news a few plot details started to leak that involved the main character getting sucked into a supercomputer.  Now further story points have been revealed, giving us a better idea of what to expect from Transcendence.

Hit the jump for more, including which actors Pfister has approached for other roles in the film.

Earlier today, IMAX announced that it had signed a 20-picture deal with Warner Bros., revealing a few upcoming IMAX releases in the process.  Now the large-format company has updated its official site with a few interesting additions that seem to confirm a couple of 3D releases and another IMAX release.  Briefly:

• All You Need Is Kill – The Doug Liman-directed sci-fi action film starring Tom Cruise will be released in 3D, presumably through a post-conversion.
• Jupiter Ascending – Lana and Andy Wachowski will apparently be making their 3D debut with the upcoming sci-fi film starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.
• Transcendence – Dark Knight and Inception cinematographer Wally Pfister’s directorial debut will, unsurprisingly, be released in the IMAX format.

Hit the jump for more details.

As we move closer towards awards season, studios are busy finalizing which of their films to push in which categories in order to give them the best shot at winning.  Given that the Best Picture snub for The Dark Knight in 2008 is widely considered a large reason why the Academy subsequently expanded the category to a larger number of nominees, we knew Warner Bros. would be launching a campaign for The Dark Knight Rises.  Alas, the “For Your Consideration” campaign for Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy closer is off and running, and we’ve got a look at which categories WB is pulling for.  Hit the jump for more.

Johnny Depp is in negotiations to lead Transcendence, the directorial debut from The Dark Knight Rises cinematographer Wally Pfister.  When the project was announced back in March, details were being kept under wraps.  The plot is still being kept under wraps other than the film now having a title.  So what does “Transcendence” refer to and why keep the logline secret?  Perhaps it could be too confusing or difficult to distill into a single sentence, although when Inception was announced, all we knew was it was a thriller “set in the architecture of the mind.”  It was intriguing even though it explained absolutely nothing.

Depp will next be seen in Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger, which opens July 3, 2013.  Hit the jump for the press release regarding Transcendence, which is scheduled to begin shooting early next year.  [Update: Hit the jump for more details about the project.]

In the spirit of the Halloween season, last night I watched The Cabin in the Woods again for the first time since catching it in theaters back in April. After a second viewing, my feelings on the film haven’t really changed. I love it. I love it with the passion of an army of “Mermen”. It’s just a brilliant blend of satire, horror and comedy and I’ll argue all day/all night with anyone who tells me differently (in all fairness, it’s okay if you don’t like the movie…you’re wrong, but it’s okay). If you’re like me and enjoy taking in horror classics around good ol’ All Hallows’ Eve, I ask that you do yourself a favor and include The Cabin in the Woods in your classic programming slate. You’ll either (A) love it or (B) have the opportunity to argue with me all day/all night. It’s a win-win.

With my Halloween viewing recommendation in hand, I’ll now present to you this week’s edition of our Top 5. In this week’s iteration is our coverage of New York Comic-Con 2012, yours truly’s Texas Chainsaw 3D set visit, Wally Pfister using the words “appalling” and The Avengers in the same sentence and all hell breaking loose shortly thereafter, the first teaser trailer for director Kimberly Peirce‘s Carrie remake, and Hugo Weaving vs. Transformers. A brief recap and link to each patiently awaits your attention after the jump.

Cinematographer Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight) called a nerdstorm down upon himself recently when he was quoted as saying The Avengers was “appalling.”  No stranger to criticism, Avengers director Joss Whedon took it upon himself to respond (when pressed by reporters).  Or perhaps he was just defending his own cinematographer’s (Seamus McGarvey) honor?  Hit the jump to see what Whedon had to say in response. Fair warning: it’s not much, but it is Whedonesque.

When director Joss Whedon’s The Avengers was released earlier this year and started breaking all kinds of box office records, it looked as if 2012′s most anticipated superhero film—The Dark Knight Rises—might be a tad upstaged.  Both movies enjoyed critical and commercial success, but without 3D The Dark Knight Rises was unable to match The Avengers’ box office take.  Nevertheless, it’s the substance of the films that counts, and both Marvel and Batman fans seemed pretty happy with the respective blockbuster adaptations.

One Batman fan, however, recently let loose some harsh words regarding Whedon’s superhero pic: The Dark Knight Rises cinematographer Wally Pfister.  Christopher Nolan’s longtime collaborator (and an Oscar winner for his work on Inception), apparently had some issues with the camerawork in The Avengers, calling the whole film “appalling.”  Hit the jump for more, including a few more details regarding Pfister’s impending directorial debut.

One of the most heated debates raging on in the filmmaking world is that of film vs. digital, or more specifically the threat of film becoming history in the shadow of an increasingly digital world.  Keanu Reeves took it upon himself to explore this issue in a documentary called Side by Side, and he rounded up some of the most influential filmmakers working today like James Cameron, David Fincher, George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Steven Soderbergh, and many more to discuss the topic at length.

Side by Side hits VOD on August 22nd and will be available in select theaters starting August 17th, and today a few “outtake” videos from the film have been released.  It’s ridiculously fascinating stuff, and after the jump you’ll find Andy and Lana Wachowki, Wally Pfister, Michael Chapman, Martin Scorsese and Steven Soderbergh talking about everything from creating performances in the editing room to Christopher Nolan’s low-tech filmmaking process.  Hit the jump to take a look.

“The choice has to be made: Is Batman going to return?”  The choice was always clear externally after The Dark Knight earned a billion dollars.  The decision is more difficult for Bruce Wayne in the universe of the movies, as Christian Bale points out in a new 13-minute TV special for The Dark Knight Rises.  The featurette covers a lot of ground, enough to prepare you for all 2 hours and 45 minutes of the movie.  In addition to Bale, they talk to co-stars Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well director Christopher Nolan and other behind-the-scenes crew members.

We have published a lot on The Dark Knight Rises, but this is the single most comprehensive source of information you’re likely to see before the release on July 20.  This is not for those who want to go in fresh, but for the rest of you, hit the jump to watch.

Back in March, we learned that Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister would be making his feature directorial debut on an untitled thriller for Alcon Entertainment.  In not exactly surprising news, it was announced today that Nolan and his producing partner/wife Emma Thomas will be executive producing Pfister’s film.  Pfister has served as cinematographer on all of Nolan’s films except Following and he won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his stellar work on Inception.  His non-Nolan features include Moneyball and The Italian Job. Though this will be his first feature film, Pfister has previously directed a few commercials.

Also unsurprising, given his partnership with Nolan, is the fact that plot details for the untitled feature are firmly under wraps.  The screenplay comes from newcomer Jack Paglen and production is set to get underway this fall or early winter.  Hit the jump to read the press release.