A bevy of new Ready Player One set photos and videos from the London-based production have landed online that are sure to make fans of the book positively giddy with anticipation. This isn’t just any old adaptation, as none other than Steven Spielberg hand-picked Ernest Cline’s 80s-infused sci-fi story for his next project. The film tackles some heady subjects like VR and over-reliance on technology, but it’s all wrapped up in an entertaining yarn filled to the brim with references to iconic 80s films, music, and video games. The film takes place in a dystopian future (the year 2044, to be exact) in which society spends ever more time immersed into a virtual reality world called OASIS. Think of it like the internet, but for VR—OASIS is where students attending public schooling, it’s where folks play a variety of games, and it’s even a massive marketplace where goods are bought and sold.

The story of Ready Player One finds a young boy named Wade Watts hunting for three Easter Eggs within the OASIS that were left behind by its eccentric founder, James Halliday. Whosoever finds these three Easter Eggs gains ownership of OASIS, which as one can imagine could be immensely profitable. The hunt intensifies as an evil corporation owner seeks to find the eggs for himself so he can monetize OASIS to the extreme.

These new set photos further reveal the dystopian landscape of the real world that Spielberg has put together, but most excitingly one of the videos shows us Spielberg on set speaking with Olivia Cooke, who plays Art3mis in the film. Art3mis is a character who teams up with Wade to try and find the Easter Eggs before the evil corporation, which is led by a character played by Ben Mendelsohn. Moreover, while Spielberg previously said he'd be keeping references to his own films to a minimum, some photos of the set dressing reveal some great nods to Jaws and Gremlins, though these may just be Easter Eggs to find in the background.


While I’ll admit I had some issues with the book, I am mighty excited to see what Spielberg envisions here, especially since it marks a major return to blockbuster filmmaking for the director. Check out the set photos and videos below (via CS). Ready Player One opens in theaters on March 30, 2018.



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Image via Disney
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Image via Amazon