Paul Bettany is in negotiations to star opposite Johnny Depp in Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, Transcendence, Alcon Entertainment's co-founders and co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove announced today.

The screenplay, written by Jack Paglen, was developed by Annie Marter and Straight Up Films, whose company principals include Marisa Polvino, Kate Cohen and Regency Boies. Polvino, Marter and Cohen will produce along with David Valdes (Book of Eli), Johnson and Kosove. Boies will co-produce. Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and Aaron Ryder are serving as executive producers.

Bettany most recently appeared in the box office mega hit Marvel's The Avengers and will next be reprising the voice of “Jarvis” in Iron Man 3. Bettany notably starred in A Beautiful Mind, which earned him a SAG nomination, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, for which he received a BAFTA nomination, and The Da Vinci Code, among many others.

Pfister most recently served as cinematographer on The Dark Knight Rises, and on last year’s best picture nominee, Moneyball. Other credits include such films as The Italian Job and Laurel Canyon.

Principal photography on Transcendence is set to begin in April in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. will release in mid 2014 via its output deal with Alcon.

(Photo Credit: Patricia Schlein / WENN.com)