Ready Player One – Amblin Entertainment – Amblin Partners – Village Roadshow Pictures – De Line Pictures - Warner Bros. Pictures – Director Steven Spielberg – Producers – Steven Spielberg, Donald De Line, Dan Farah & Kristie Macosko Krieger - Writers – Ernest Cline & Zack Penn Ready Player One is a 2018 American science fiction adventure film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, based on Cline's 2011 novel of the same name. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, Simon Pegg, Hannah John-Kamen and Mark Rylance. The film is set in the year 2045, when much of humanity, escaping the desolation of the real world, uses the virtual reality software OASIS to engage in work and play. Orphaned teenager Wade Watts (Sheridan) discovers clues to a hidden game within the program that promises the winner full ownership of the OASIS and joins several allies to try to complete the game before indentured players working for a large company, run by businessman Nolan Sorrento (Mendelsohn), can do so. Ready Player One premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2018, was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on March 29, 2018, in 2D, Real D 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D. It has grossed over $397 million worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2018. The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its visuals and brisk pacing, and some calling it an improvement over the book, while criticism was directed at the perceived lack of character development and "achingly regressive" view of pop culture fans.