In 2004, a satellite detects a mysterious heat bloom beneath Bouvetøya, an island about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) off the coast of Antarctica. Wealthy industrialist Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) discovers through thermal imaging that there is a pyramid buried 2,000 ft (610 m) beneath the ice. He attempts to claim it for his multinational communications company, Weyland Industries, a subsidiary of the Weyland Corporation, and assembles a team of experts to investigate. The team includes archaeologists, linguistic experts, drillers, mercenaries, and a guide named Alexa "Lex" Woods (Sanaa Lathan).