In a little over a month, Steven Spielberg will return to blockbuster filmmaking with Ready Player One. The Ernest Cline novel upon which the film is based is a pastiche of 80s pop culture references, so who better to bring such a film to the big screen than one of that decade's most influential directors? The nostalgia is strong with this one, and in keeping with that theme, the newest poster for Ready Player One looks like it came straight out of the 1980s. The poster is a gorgeous blast from the past and classic Spielberg. Take a look.
That Ready Player One poster would look right at home tacked next to a poster for The Last Starfighter, or featured on a VHS box at your local video store. If Warner Bros. is looking for this film to capture the same type of excitement and warm nostalgia as Netflix's Stranger Things, then this poster is certainly a step in the right direction. From the tagline at the top to the painterly style to the arrangement (and almost angelic glow) of the characters, everything (even down to the font) evokes those classic posters from the 1980s.
The Ready Player One poster is definitely using that Drew Struzan aesthetic that defined the 1980s and is best-known thanks to the artist's work on the posters for the original Star Wars films. However, Drew Struzan's art also appeared on the posters for Steven Spielberg films such as Hook and Indiana Jones, as well as Spielberg-produced films like Back to the Future and The Goonies. All staples of the 80s (Hook is '91, but close enough) with memorable, and in some cases iconic, posters.
It's kind of funny; even if you don't have a name for this aesthetic or know the artist behind it, you can immediately recognize it as familiar. Such is the prevalence of Drew Struzan's art and the comforting embrace of nostalgia. With any luck, Ready Player One will attain the classic status enjoyed by so many of Steven Spielberg's other films.
The poster itself, like the trailer, is chock full of pop culture references too, including the Iron Giant, a Gundam, the DeLorean time machine and a monster truck. Once upon a time, there were no movie websites or social media platforms or forums full of spoilerific details. You would simply go to a video store or be at the theater and see a poster for a movie. Based on the poster/box art alone, you would decide if you had to see it.
Ready Player One arrives in theaters to blow your minds and make you jealous if you didn't grow up in the 1980s on March 29. For all the biggest movies coming out this year, check out our release guide, and for all of the latest in how old is too old to have movie posters on your wall, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
