Directing careers can be over in the blink of an eye. The production is often too exhausting, the feeling too frustrating when all the good intentions have only produced a flop. This is how Wally Pfister must have felt with the sci-fi debacle Transcendence. Even Johnny Depp and 1000 Ideas couldn’t save the film. It’s on TV today.
On TV: Sci-Fi fiasco with Johnny Depp was Wally Pfister’s first and last cinema work
Transcendence revolves around the scientist Will (Depp) who, together with his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), wants to take humanity to the next technological level. He even aspires to merge with the machine. But an unscrupulous organization wants to stop him and his ambitions with all his might.
Actually, Transcendence should have been a mega hit. Sci-Fi is a virtually universally popular cinema genre, Johnny Depp plays the leading role, and the story, with its questions about man and machine, has potential similar to Blade Runner. But the film flopped (via Box Office Mojo). The concepts were too complicated, the story too vagueas many critics complained about (via Metacritic ). It must have been a painful experience for director Wally Pfister.
Transcendence was Pfister’s first and last directing work for a feature film. But he probably won’t be starving because of the sci-fi disappointment: After several collaborations with Christopher Nolan, including on The Dark Knight and Inception, he is considered one of the most talented cinematographers in Hollywood.
When is Transcendence on TV?
Transcendence is running this Sunday, August 13, 2023, at 11:00 p.m. on Sat. 1. In addition to Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany (Avengers 4: Endgame) and Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) can be seen in front of the camera.
Podcast: The 8 best Netflix movies of all time
Since 2015, Netflix has not only released exclusive series, but also films. We looked at the titles of the past few years and selected the eight best Netflix original films. You can find out exactly which ones are involved in this edition of our podcast Streamgegräber.
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From brutal war drama to dreamy fantasy adventures, from blockbusters to insider tips: you can discover some strong original films on Netflix. Even the long-lost work of a master director has appeared on the streaming service.
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