A version of this story appears in the First Look issue ofEntertainment Weekly, on newsstands now oravailable here.
Inside everyone’s head is a toy box.
In the year 2045, anyone can dive into this digital geekdom.
Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.
Anyone can be anything, although most people’s fantasies aren’t about trying to be sleek or cool.
They’re about beingretro.
It’s real life versus virtual life.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Which is more compelling?"
ESCAPE HATCH
Virtual life is definitely more fun.
Too fun, in fact.
Warner Bros. Pictures
In the story ofReady Player One, 70 percent of the population lives entirely online.
So the problems of the actual planet have only deepened because of neglect.
That apathy has sunk the planet further into poverty, despair, and disrepair.
Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.
Why worry about your home when you’ve got the option to live in acastlein the digital world?
Why take care of anything, even yourself?
And to take a shower.
“Or maybenottake a shower!”
he says with a laugh “Nobody can smell you in the virtual world.
If you stay there long enough you won’t offend anyone!”
He’s researching this iconic programmer because the foundations of the digital world have become threatened.
It’s all a question of who owns the rights to this pop-culture rich virtual territory.
And who controls entry?
But Halliday is no more.
He has ceased to be.
He is an ex-genius tech CEO.
The person who solves the three puzzles will win the keys to his kingdom.
But Sorrento doesn’t play fair.
“Our major characters, they are in mortal jeopardy.”
It’s actual life and death.
Sheridan says Spielberg told him to play the two halves of Wade as different people at least at first.
“[Parzival] is a bit more confident than Wade.
To the left is an OASIS librarian The Curator.
They’re having a huge war, this rampage,” she says.
On one hand, it’s inspiring to see so many people united in common cause.
On the other, it’s disturbing to see so many lost in another world.
“Art3mis is something of a legend,” Cooke says.
“She is known for being tough, fearless, and confident.
I feel like Samantha is that as well.
There’s really no differentiation.
She prides herself on being true to the core.”
To borrow a line from 1995’sClueless: “To thine own self be true.
“* Spielberg says he felt likeReady Player Onedid that for him, too.
“It was a very active flashback for me,” he says.
It’s a joke.
