Whatever your life may be like on Earth in the year 2045 in Ready Player One, when entering the pop culture-filled virtual reality world known as the OASIS, you can become whoever you want to be and build a different life for yourself. Even OASIS's creator, James Halliday, crafted his own unique identity: Anorak. With the Ready Player One movie a month away from hitting theaters, new footage has come out giving us our first look at Halliday's Anorak interacting with Parzival, the avatar of the main protagonist, Wade Watts.
In the Ready Player One theatrical adaptation, James Halliday is being played by Mark Rylance, making this his third collaboration with director Steven Spielberg. Halliday has already died when Ready Player One begins, but by establishing an Easter egg hunt before passing away to whom the winner will be rewarded ownership of the OASIS and Halliday's fortune, his influence is still being felt from beyond the grave. Not only that, but his Anorak persona still exists within the OASIS, and you can see him in the above screenshot passing along a key to Wade Watts' Parzival. Folks who've already read the original Ready Player One novel by Ernest Cline likely know what's happening here, but for those who are going into the movie blind, we won't delve into spoiler territory. What isn't spoiler-y to say is that Anorak looks like he would be in good company alongside other bearded, powerful fictional characters like Merlin, Albus Dumbledore and Gandalf.
You can watch the new Ready Player One preview from Warner Bros below, which includes James Halliday's narration about the Easter egg hunt that has taken the OASIS by storm.
Along with Mark Rylance, Ready Player One's main cast includes Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts/Parzival, Olivia Cooke as Sam Cook/Art3mis, Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento, Simon Pegg as Ogden Morrow and T.J. Miller as i-R0k. Just like the original book, the movie will depict Wade and numerous others in the OASIS trying to solve the clues left behind by James Halliday to find his treasured Easter egg. Unfortunately for Wade, as he makes more progress in the hunt, he'll find himself being targeted by the sinister corporation known as Innovative Online Industries, led by Nolan Sorrento, which wants to take over the OASIS for its own nefarious schemes.
Ready Player One hits theaters on March 29, and if you're interested in planning your other trips to the theater later this year, check our our 2018 premiere guide for release date information.
