There’s been a flurry of news involving Mark Rylance and Steven Spielberg of late. After Bridge Of Spies, the two worked together again on Roald Dahl’s The BFG, and just this week we reported on Rylance joining Spielberg’s upcoming adaptation of The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara, where he’ll be playing the Pope. And today, Variety reports the actor has also been cast in the director’s already-in-production film adaptation of Ready Player One. In related news, Vanessa totally saw Spielberg give Rylance his letterman jacket during homeroom, so they are, like, 100 percent going steady now.
Ernest Cline’s novel, set in 2044 and detailing a young man’s effort to win a virtual-reality treasure hunt against most of the population—including a villainous corporate asshat to be played by Ben Mendelsohn—revolves around a virtual universe called Oasis. Rylance is set to play Oasis creator James Donovan Halliday, with Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke as the film’s respective leads. Additionally, Rylance hasn’t said yet, but we’re pretty sure Spielberg already asked him to Winter Formal, and we were gonna see if they maybe wanted to join our group, because Tyler’s mom just bought him a car, and we could pre-game in her basement.
Warner Bros. recently pushed back Ready Player One three months, to March 30, 2018, in order to avoid competing with the Christmas holiday release of Star Wars: Episode VIII. Normally, a Spielberg blockbuster makes everyone else get out of the way, but given The Force Awakens’ 20 gazillion dollars in box office, this looks like the smart play. Although not as smart as Rylance making a play for Tom Hanks’ ex in the first place. It is going to be crazy drama on Snapchat with those three later today.