Marvel Star Paul Bettany's Sci-Fi Movie With Johnny Depp Was A Big-Budget Box Office Flop

To say that Johnny Deep never had any luck in the sci-fi genre is an understatement. His first foray into science fiction was all the way back in 1999 in Rand Ravich's "The Astronaut's Wife" — an absolute stinker of a movie that bombed at the box office in addition to critics crucifying it every chance they had — alongside Charlize Theron, who, on the other hand, did have big successes like "Mad Max: Fury Road." It took the actor 15 years to muster the courage again and say yes to the role of a scientist researching AI in Wally Pfister's 2014 "Transcendence."

The result wasn't as catastrophic as the first time — at least commercially, since the film made $103 million worldwide at the box office against its $100 million budget — but nobody remembers that movie happily unless they have a gun to their head. This time around, Depp had an even more illustrious cast to support him — with the likes of Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, and Cillian Murphy — and a screenplay by Jack Paglen that made it onto The Black List (popular unproduced scripts in Hollywood) in 2012. And yet, "Transcendence" has become the definition of a dud that had immense potential.

"Transcendence" follows Will Caster (Depp) and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), two scientists who are working on developing the first sentient computer. Their work falls in jeopardy, however, when an anti-technology terrorist group called R.I.F.T carries out attacks on several AI labs, during which Will gets shot and ends up in critical condition. According to his doctors, he's got one month to live at best. In a state of desperation, Evelyn decides to upload his consciousness into the unfinished computer they created before Will's physical death, so his mind can live on in a different form.

Will's best friend, Max (Paul Bettany), warns Evelyn that this new version of her husband won't ever be like Will but an artificial imitation of him. She disregards Max's worries and helps AI Will become more and more powerful through gathering data and knowledge via the Internet, resulting in the computer becoming a global threat that needs to be stopped.

Over ten years ago, this premise might have seemed quite intriguing on paper, but it just didn't work in motion. Its core idea of preserving human consciousness through machines wasn't that wholly original in the first place, and the plot written around it was rather derivative and formulaic. While critics and audiences didn't necessarily hate everything about "Transcendence" — the film certainly had the potential for something more profound — ultimately, they found it dull and underwhelming. And Depp will likely take another 15 years (or even longer) before agreeing to appear in another sci-fi, if he gets an offer at all, given his track record in the genre thus far.