Video: Ready Player One hasn’t had the best week. The internet has beaten it from pillar to post regarding its poster parodies and just about everything else related to the pop culture-heavy film. But a new TV spot was just released that is, without a doubt, the best one yet; it actually makes the film feel less like a laundry list of references and more like those sweeping adventures director Steven Spielberg is known for.
A crop of the Ready Player One poster by artist Paul Shipper. Photo: Warner Bros.
The one-minute TV spot doesn’t rely on pop culture references. They’re in there, of course, but the spot puts them in context of the movie’s world. It teases how the film comments on our existence today. It steps back away from the slightly complicated story and tries to make it relatable. Plus, it has a little girl as King Kong and a grown woman as a T-rex. Check it out.
Your reality will never look the same. #ReadyPlayerOne only in theaters March 29. pic.twitter.com/Y5TLam1uwx
— Ready Player One (@readyplayerone) March 9, 2018
Love or hate the property, this is a tone that people who don’t know the book can relate to. Basically, “Oh, here’s a movie about a virtual world where anything is possible. People can be whatever they want in this world. It’s different from the outside world and makes us appreciate that. But, yes, we still have fun with the pop culture references.” And it does all of that without even hinting at the plot. I’m sure this TV spot isn’t going to win over anyone already predisposed against Ready Player One, but if it wins over even a few people who are on the fence, that’s probably as good an ending to a bad week as a movie can hope for.
Based on the novel by Ernie Cline, Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance. It’s out March 29.
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