Rebecca Hall has signed on to star in 'Transcendence'.

The 'Iron Man 3' actress beat off stiff competition from Emily Blunt and Rooney Mara to land the lead female role opposite Hollywood hunk Johnny Depp in Wally Pfister's directorial debut.

The film will centre around a scientist whose wife uploads his brain onto a supercomputer after his death, giving it the potential to think for itself.

The brunette beauty also joins Paul Bettany in the greatly-anticipated feature.

After years of collaborating with Christopher Nolan, Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally will step behind the camera to try his hand at directing.

The 'Inception' cinematographer first noticed Rebecca on the set of Nolan's new magician movie 'The Prestige'.

Wally recently spoke of his joy about getting Johnny to sign up for the sci-fi movie.

He said: ''I'm thrilled, and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Johnny. He is a creative and intelligent artist whom I feel will bring great depth to the character and the overall narrative.''

'Transcendence', scripted by newcomer Jack Paglen, is expected to be released in April 2014.