# Steven Spielberg to direct Ready Player One adaptation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139 "2015-03-27T18:16:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/41 "2017-07-24T16:48:38Z")
Wow, that was a terrible trailer. The trailer gave me no idea whatsoever what it was I should be going to see; there’s a kid in a dystopian future, okay, and then - it’s Tron meets Speed Racer. CGI explosions! CGI explosions are in every movie now. You’d never know from the trailer that there’s a reasonably interesting story in there. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/42 "2017-07-24T17:18:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The trailer gave me no idea whatsoever what it was I should be going to see Was the trailer aimed at people who have read the book (or at least have a general idea what it’s about), or at people who have not? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/43 "2017-07-24T17:23:02Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I will see the movie for sure, even if it deviates from the book so much so that TWO MAIN CHARACTERS are left out, and that Irks me. I’d hardly call Daito and Shoto main characters, given that they only show up every so often throughout the book. The only main character for certain is Wade, since the entire story is from his point of view. Everyone else is supporting cast at best. As far as the trailer is concerned, it’s pretty clear it was meant to hype up the adaptation for fans of the book, who are already familiar with the story. Recent articles have mentioned that the movie is going to make a fair number of changes from the book for various reasons, so they’re probably keeping the story itself close to their chest for now. Compare to the first trailer for The Force Awakens, which revealed literally nothing about the movie except that it was going to be a Star Wars movie, while later trailers went into more detail. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/44 "2017-07-24T20:06:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Was the trailer aimed at people who have read the book (or at least have a general idea what it’s about), or at people who have not? If the former, that’s an absolutely stupid trailer. People who liked the book don’t need it to be sold to them. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/45 "2017-07-24T20:36:05Z")
It’s the Comic Con teaser trailer–for an audience likely familiar with the book already (and of course to generate some buzz with a larger audience). I’m sure there will be a more expository trailer later to give those unfamiliar with the story a better idea of what it’s about. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/46 "2017-07-24T20:43:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If the former, that’s an absolutely stupid trailer. People who liked the book don’t need it to be sold to them. Cut them some slack - they probably haven’t even finished shooting yet, let alone do much work on the special effects. The trailer was probably the best they could do with what little footage they had ready. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/47 "2017-07-24T20:43:57Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I will see the movie for sure, even if it deviates from the book so much so that TWO MAIN CHARACTERS are left out, and that Irks me. There was a LOT of criticism about Daisho when the book came out. Two Japanese characters whose avatars are samurai and talk about honor in every scene? They’re pretty stereotypical and one-note, and I’m betting the studio thought there’d be some backlash. > [@RickJay](#): > > The trailer gave me no idea whatsoever what it was I should be going to see; there’s a kid in a dystopian future, okay, and then - it’s Tron meets Speed Racer. CGI explosions! CGI explosions are in every movie now. We’re over six months from release. Typically, the earliest trailers just show scenes from the film to build intrigue/excitement, and about three months out from release they add a narrative and introduce characters. A good example is the Thor:Ragnarok trailer we got three months ago (pretty much random fighting and shouting), compared to the one released last weekend. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/48 "2017-07-24T20:56:22Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > About the story though, one thing I am not 100% clear on is the avatar situation. Can someone explain it to me? Here is what I think I know: > > In the oasis you can have any avatar you want. But, for example it can be any size? Can it be as big as a planet? And in school,due to their rules, you have to have a regular, scaled to human size avatar? Is that correct? And you only have one avatar and if that gets killed it cannot be resurrected. That avatar, or account, is dead. So the avatar is linked to your account and can’t be changed. But when they were dancing in the party the narrator talks about how everyone was morphing their avatars into different shapes. > > I’m not sure I fully understand the avatar and oasis account situation. You understand it, but you’re not thinking it through. You’re a newbie and create a planet-size avatar - and then? You’re a “low level wimpazoid” as Art3mis would say. To make the climb to 99 you need to go on quests and collect artifacts, maybe fight in the gladiator arenas - except you can’t because you’re an easily killed version of Galactus that won’t fit in a teleportation booth, on a ship, or in any of the environments designed for quest. Bear in mind that that most of the people in Oasis stay on the initial world, a non-PvP zone where they can live glamorous lives as idealized versions of themselves without being harmed. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/49 "2017-07-24T21:22:53Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > It’s the Comic Con teaser trailer–for an audience likely familiar with the book already (and of course to generate some buzz with a larger audience). I’m sure there will be a more expository trailer later to give those unfamiliar with the story a better idea of what it’s about. There will be a whole stack of trailers. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/50 "2017-07-24T23:47:43Z")
Huh, I only finished the book last week and they’re making a movie already? Cool, although I’m not sure what that race is all about. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/51 "2017-07-24T23:53:30Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > There will be a whole stack of trailers. Some of which may be explosive even. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/52 "2017-07-25T00:52:31Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > You understand it, but you’re not thinking it through. You’re a newbie and create a planet-size avatar - and then? You’re a “low level wimpazoid” as Art3mis would say. To make the climb to 99 you need to go on quests and collect artifacts, maybe fight in the gladiator arenas - except you can’t because you’re an easily killed version of Galactus that won’t fit in a teleportation booth, on a ship, or in any of the environments designed for quest. > > Bear in mind that that most of the people in Oasis stay on the initial world, a non-PvP zone where they can live glamorous lives as idealized versions of themselves without being harmed. OK thanks! So can you morph your avatar like when they were dancing? Or was that just a special feature of the party space? ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/53 "2017-07-25T01:30:04Z")
I want to be able to watch this movie in full VR. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/54 "2017-07-25T01:48:00Z")
Here’s the SD Comic Con panel for the movie, including Spielberg, Cline, and a few of the lead actors: Nothing very spoilery, so not much concerning the plot. Spielberg has said that he left out most references to his own movies (though of course he was producer on BTTF). ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/55 "2017-07-25T02:23:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The rights to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off are critical. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/56 "2017-07-25T03:07:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The rights to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off are critical. Hmmm, there’s at least one other Matthew Broderick film that is far more critical. Also just noticed that **Ready Player One** in my kindle library is no longer the familiar red cover with yellow block lettering; the cover is now the picture of the stacks from this trailer with white block lettering. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/57 "2017-07-25T06:38:18Z")
Yeah they need to get War Games before Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, at least if they care about being true to the source material (which they do not in any way appear to care about as you can see in the handy graphic below). Here is the source material:X \<---------------------------------far distance----------------------------------- keep going -----------------------more -----------bit more-----------------------------\> Trailer ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/58 "2017-07-25T07:23:39Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > There was a LOT of criticism about Daisho when the book came out. Two Japanese > characters whose avatars are samurai and talk about honor in every scene? They’re pretty stereotypical and one-note, and I’m betting the studio thought there’d be some backlash… Yes, they were a bit one-note in the book. But what’s wrong with samurai avatars? That is exactly what a lot of Japanese boys would do. They could lose a lot of the lame dialogue though, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/59 "2017-07-25T07:25:26Z")
Also does anyone else think that guy talking to Lara Croft near the cars is Master Chief from Halo!?! Hope so. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139/60 "2017-07-25T11:49:10Z")
In the linked trailer there is a QR code on the hood of a car at the 1:53 mark. I understand it goes to a IOI page but I can’t get the link to scan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steven-spielberg-to-direct-ready-player-one-adaptation/716139.md?page=4)