Ahead of a summit on quantum computing, Caltech’s Institute for Quantum Information and Matter wanted a video to show off the work being done on quantum games. So logically they turned to world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.

The idea was for Hawking to play a “worthy opponent” in quantum chess, a variation of the age-old game that throws quantum superpowers into the mix, according to Caltech quantum researcher Spyridon Michalakis.

But who could go up against a brilliant scientist like Hawking? Obviously, actor Paul Rudd.

Caltech Professor John Preskill first pitched it to Hawking.

“Stephen, to our delight, said yes,” Michalakis said in an email.

Next, Michalakis reached out to Rudd. IQIM worked with Rudd on last year’s “Ant-Man,” where Rudd’s character utilized quantum physics for the titular super hero’s shrinking ability.

With his two leads on board, Michalakis turned to his friend, Ed Solomon, the writer of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” for help.

Solomon connected the researcher with Bill’s actor, Alex Winter, who has directed documentaries on the Deep Web and the rise of music piracy.

Winter agreed to shoot the short and he had the perfect person in mind to narrate: the second half of his teenage duo, Ted’s actor, Keanu Reeves. Reeves also provided the narration on Winter’s “Deep Web.”

Quantum Chess is actually a real game, with one version developed by USC Graduate Student Chris Cantwell, who plans to put the project on Kickstarter. The game imagines each piece as a quantum particle, following the same rules of probability and uncertainty. A piece might exist in more than one state, making the moves much more unpredictable.

• VIDEO: Watch Stephen Hawking play Paul Rudd in quantum chess

Michalakis worked out the short’s story with Cantwell, developer of Quantum Chess, and Gorjan Alagic, a former postdoc from IQIM. The Caltech researcher sent the story to Jose Gonzalez, a scientist at the University of Southern California’s Heatlh Sciences campus, for some feedback, and instead got back a script.

“Jose sent me an email the next day with a professional looking script fleshed out based on our initial story. It was funny, smart and irreverent,” Michalakis said. “When I sent it to Paul, he loved it so much, he didn’t have anything to edit beyond adding some jokes during filming.”

Winter’s Trouper Productions recorded Reeve’s voiceover in Santa Monica, before the group flew to New York to film Rudd.

In the story, an un-aging Keanu Reeves from 700 years into the future insists that Rudd must provide the keynote speech at a Caltech event on Quantum Physics or he will put the future of humanity at risk. When Rudd calls Caltech, they doubt his credentials, until Rudd challenges Hawking, the scheduled speaker, in a game of quantum chess.

The 11-minute video premiered Tuesday night in Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium as part of the “One Entangled Evening,” a celebration of past and present quantum science. The event celebrated the legacy of the late Caltech physicist Richard Feynman, who received the Nobel Prize in physics 50 years ago. Beyond Rudd and Hawking’s battle, Bill Gates also provided a taped tribute to Feynman.