Contemporary YA discussion

Ready Player One

Ready Player One is hitting the big screen. Director Steven Spielberg is currently conducting casting. Here's who he has selected so far.

Hannah John-Kamen
Warner Bros. has not revealed the role she’ll be playing, some have speculated that she could end up portraying the character of Helen Harris from the book.

Tye Sheridan as Wade Owen Watts / Parzival
Olivia Cooke Samantha Evelyn Cook / Art3mis
Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento

(there are more on IMDB- but they're not yet official. I'll post them when they are.)

Evidently, Steven Spielberg must be very modest, he's been quoted as stating that he has removed nearly all references to his own movies. In fact, one of the roadblocks with making the movie is the enormous amount of 80's pop cultural references. They need to acquire a lot of rights or make some kind of deal. I would imagine that because of money and time limitations other references could be cut as well. There is a rumor that he is keeping the DeLorean in, but again that's just a rumor.

Spielberg had no luck with the Mars company when he asked to use M&Ms in E.T. They said no, so Spielberg used Reese’s Pieces instead. I wonder if the M&M guy who said no was fired? Fortunately, it's been said that the gaming companies have been cooperative with the Ready Player One movie.

It's anyone's guess as to what cultural references and other parts of the book will be left out. It's always very difficult to get a get a "true" book to movie due to time constraints. It's possible that this movie will be very long.

Producer Donald DeLine says Ready Player One, will be a Spielberg’s classic like Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park. He's the producer so of course he is biased, but hopefully it will be one of Spielberg’s best.

The project is set to begin production next month in London.

It's currently set to air on March 30, 2018-originally it was Dec. 15, 2017. It's a long wait, but with Steven Spielberg as the director it will air eventually. The release date and the cast could change and probably will.

What are your thought so far?

Another movie from Steven Spielberg that I can't wait to watch. I'm surprised that it is not schedule for release during the Memorial Day Holiday. The book is so popular.

I haven't read this one. I want to. I hate to ask this: if I don't play video games and I have no interest in them will I like the book?

Molly wrote: "Another movie from Steven Spielberg that I can't wait to watch. ...."

I haven't read this one yet, but the reviews from my Goodreads friends have been all 5 stars. Here's one I think you will appreciate. Keep us posted.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished today. It was so good! I listened to the audio version, performed by Wil Wheaton, who was fabulous. I hope he'll get a role in the movie. If you can listen to the audiobook, I highly recommend it.

The book was a kind of love letter to the 80's set in 2045. I've learned that there were over 350 pop culture references in 374 pages (the audio was 16 hours and 41 minutes.) There were several references I didn't get, but it didn't matter.

I didn't get the title, but I do now. It has a double meaning that's pretty cool. So are the three epigraphs. There was one for each of the three sections of the book. There is a lesson to be learned, especially for anyone hooked on gaming, social media or many Millennials, except for the one on Goodreads of course...they are totally awesome!