The trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One sets expectations sky-high for the science-fiction adventure film that is slated for a March 30, 2018, release. The trailer came out on Sunday.
Based on Ernest Cline’s novel of the same name, Ready Player One follows orphaned teenager Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan), who lives in Columbus, Ohio, in a dystopian 2045.
To escape the horrors of overpopulation, pollution, climate change, shortage of space and the like, Columbus residents spend most of their time in a virtual reality platform called the OASIS, short for Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation.
The deceased creator of the OASIS, James Halliday (Mark Rylance), announces (through virtual reality, of course) that the platform has a hidden easter egg and the one to discover it would win a fortune, in addition to gaining full control of the OASIS. Watts dives in to compete with a major corporation for the prize. What starts out as a treasure hunt of sorts becomes a life-and-death quest, a “war for the control of the future”, as a character declares.
From director Steven Spielberg comes #ReadyPlayerOne – in theaters March 30. Watch the new trailer! pic.twitter.com/BHJ9kN8GTB
— Ready Player One (@readyplayerone) December 10, 2017
Cline’s novel was choc-a-bloc with ‘80s references to superheroes, comic books, video games and films, and the film appears to be no different. The trailer offers glimpses of legends of the late 1900s, including characters from the Street Fighter video game series, Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider franchise, Harley Quinn and the Joker from the DC Comics universe, movie monster King Kong, the evil doll Chucky from the Childs Play horror series and the Iron Giant, the robot from outerspace in the ’99 sci-fi comedy film of the same name, among others.
The teaser of the movie was unveiled in Comic Con in July.