Four Guys and A New Girl in Town: Ready Player One

Just reading the log-line for the film, Ready Player One doesn’t necessarily interest me. 

When the creator of an MMO called the Oasis dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all Oasis users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. Wade Watts finds the first clue and starts a race for the Egg

But looking at the parties involved in bringing the science fiction novel by Ernest Cline to the screen, makes me think twice.

Steven Spielberg is directing and among the cast, some very exciting names: 

Mark Rylance who we all loved in Wolf Hall (and who won Best Supporting Actor for Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies)

Ben Mendelsohn (he won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor as the black sheep of the family in Blood Line) 

Simon Pegg (Star Trek, Absolutely Anything) 

Tye Sheridan, one of Variety’s Ten Actors to Watch (Dark Places,Mud, Tree of Life) is Wade.  

And a young woman with a name that’s new to me. 

Hannah John-Kamen. 

The name is new but we’ve been seeing her face around. The British actress is recognizable in three different episodes of Black Mirror plus Death in Paradise, Game of Thrones, Happy Valley and The Killjoys among others. Star Wars fans may recognize her but it looks like the role of F’nale Zandor will be the big movie role she’s been waiting for. With Spielberg directing? I would think so.

Have you read the book? Here’s the publisher’s description:

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.  

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.

Should I read it first? Ready Player One won’t hit our movie screens until March 2018 so plenty of time to find a place on that bedside stack.