Steven Spielberg may have “The BFG” coming this summer, but the fast-moving director is already looking ahead. His next project is “Ready Player One,” and the helmer has landed on one our favorite actors to play the baddie.
Ben Mendelsohn is in early talks to play villain role in the adaptation of Ernest Cline‘s novel. Zak Penn (“X-Men: Last Stand,” “The Avengers“) is writing the script for the futuristic, pop-culture referencing story that takes place in a virtual universe. The book synopsis will make things a bit clearer:
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win — and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
Those who have read the book likely know there are more than a few nods to Spielberg’s ’80s works, but just don’t count on seeing them in the movie. “I’m doing the whole pop culture thing. I’m just going to leave myself out of it,” he told Entertainment Weekly in the October. “I can’t do that. Too self-referential.”
Around the same time, he told USA Today, “I’m not making this movie to remind people of my ‘80s movies. I may leave most of them out!”
Let us know what you think below. “Ready Player One” opens on December 15, 2017. [Variety]
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