Whilst on holiday, we read a couple of books, one being Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. When it was first released we had heard a little about it, but it really hit our radar when it was announced a film adaptation was to follow with Stephen Spielberg to direct.
What surprised us most was how excited this made us, he of course. has directed some great films, from Jaws to the Indiana Jones films. The film has Science Fiction roots and again this is a genre he has some great films in such as E.T. to Minority Report yet the last film of his we rushed to the cinema to see was The Adventures of Tintin in 2011.
Yes, Lincoln; Bridge of Spies and The BFG are highly acclaimed films, yet on their cinema release, we were always drawn to something else, yet the right film, Spielberg is still one of the best directors in the world, and we are sure he will do the book justice so on the proposed release date of 30th March 2018, our Spielberg cinema drought will be over.
The best way to describe the book I guess would be calling it a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for computer gamers.
In the year 2044, the world is gripped by an energy crisis and global warming which of course has caused major problems with the economy with many living in poverty, with a real housing crisis, a way has found of stacking trailer homes into high rise buildings and the book follows one of these residents called Wade (who will be played by Tye Sheridan in the film)
With so much poverty, many find joy from the OASIS, a virtual universe, where you can attend school, or if you have another virtual currency, travel to other worlds etc I a whole other virtual society. The OASIS is free for all to use.
The OASIS was created by James Donovan Halliday (Mark Rylance will play him in the film) and Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg has been cast in this role) and they have amassed a large fortune but had gone their separate ways.
We learn that during this separation, Halliday developed a quest within the OASIS to find various keys, upon finding them all, the winner will receive his vast fortune as he is dying and has no one to leave it to!
Now Halliday is a lover of all things from the Eighties, so to win, gamers are known as ‘Gunters’, these egg hunters need a vast knowledge of all Eighties movies, music, TV and videogames to win.
Wade, using an online name of Parzival, and his fellow ‘Gunters’, known as the High Five, all dream of completing the quest and the vast riches so work alone desperate to try to find the keys.
The book follows these 5 friends, they are Aech (as yet uncast) ; Art3mis, a girl that despite only meeting online, Wade believes is his true love (Olivia Cooke has been cast to play her); & Daito and Shoto (again as yet uncast)
Everything will change when Wade finds the first key, as he is approached by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn will portray him), he works at a Innovative Online Industries (IOI) who run the internet provider for most of the world and believe that by winning they can control and charge people to use the OASIS.
He is head of a division called Oology, a vast department of Eighties experts searching for the keys, they offer Wade a life or death deal to work with them to complete the quest, Wade escapes but there are consequences which show IOI will stop at nothing to win.
The book takes us through some great challenges referencing films such as recreating films such as War Games and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, have perfect games of Pac-Man. The film is also littered with Eighties film references from Blade Runner to Godzilla and at a party held by Ogden, we also get to see the Ecto-88 a Back to the Future DeLorean with Ghostbusters branding (confirmed as appearing in the film)
Will all the High Five Survive? What happens if IOI wins? Whilst you could probably have a good guess, the book has plenty of surprises on the way and it is a real must read.
Early set images from the film look good too, with Gremlins and Jaws images being spotted, the film will most likely have some major changes due to copywriting and licence agreements but we are sure it will be a must see film!
With Ernest working on the screenplay, it should remain faithful to the feel of the book! How can it fail with its Science fiction story and memories of nostalgia, all very much popular at present!
Have you read Ready Player One? You can find the book at Amazon here
Never miss a BMAF blog. Receive email notifications when new posts are published by entering your email address in the subscription box on the top right-hand side of this page.
You can also like us on Facebook for more film news and content, including anything on the Ready Player One movie as it gets nearer to release www.facebook.com/barkingmadaboutfilms/