Warner Bros. kicked off Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con with a bang. Ready Player One has been a book that fans have been wanting to see on the big screen ever since it was first published in 2011. It’s finally being brought to life by a true master of cinema, Steven Spielberg. And WB wasted no time making fans aware of that.
Spielberg was the first to take to the stage to a thunderous welcome from the crowd. He said that reading Ernest Cline’s book was like a flashforward and a flashback at the same time. The futuristic setting mixed with the numerous pop culture references to the ‘80s made for a cool melting pot of ideas for Spielberg to play with.
And holy moly, the melting pop of characters and worlds in this movie is jaw-dropping. Just check out the trailer and try and list off every single hero, villain, and iconic vehicle that you can.
The Iron Giant standing next to a ninja turtle? Freddy Krueger fighting some kind of robot? The DeLorean speeding down the street with… was that a Tron light cycle?!? Apparently, some of these won’t just be cute cameos either. Spielberg said that the Iron Giant plays a major part in the story. That’s insane!
Spielberg did say that he left out references to his own work and that’s understandable. His films are present in the book but their inclusion might distract audiences from the full experience. Regardless, it’s hard not to see this as a more pop take on his aesthetic in Minority Report. And using Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”? That’s pretty much perfect.
You can tell that this was a very fun and fancy-free production and the footage backs that up. I really enjoyed the book but the movie looks like a whole other beast. Although, the trailer ends with the shot of a key. Those keys are the most important artifacts in the story as viewers will come to find out.
Ready Player One hits theaters on March 30. Get ready (…player one).
