If you’re wondering how Steven Spielberg will bring the dystopian, VR-heavy world of Ready Player One to life, you can get your first real glimpse in the trailer (technically, a teaser for San Diego Comic Con) above.
The film is based on Ernest Cline’s novel — a book that’s been recommend to me many times as one of the best depictions of virtual reality and gaming in fiction. (Sorry, I still haven’t read it!)
One of the story’s main elements is a virtual world called OASIS. What we see of OASIS in the trailer might not feel terribly visually distinctive, but it certainly looks fun and flashy, throwing together a hodgepodge of pop culture references.
I also laughed a couple of times at the marketing-speak, which is overhyped even by the standards of movie trailers. Spielberg isn’t just an award-winning director, he’s a “cinematic game-changer.” Ready Player One isn’t just a popular book, it’s a “holy grail of pop culture.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg discussed the film at Comic Con, where he described it as “the most amazing flash-forward and flashback at the same time about a decade I was very involved in, the ’80s, and a flash-forward to a future that is awaiting all of us, whether we like it or not.”
Anyway, despite my reservations, I’m feeling hopeful about this. It’s Spielberg, you know? And aside from The Matrix, the bar for VR-in-film is pretty low.
Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts, with a script by Cline and Zak Penn. It’s scheduled to open on March 30, 2018.