Above fan art by AlexielApril.
Steven Spielberg is going to jump right into READY PLAYER ONE after he finishes up BRIDGE OF SPIES and THE BFG, and he’s lining up potential actresses to star as Samantha Cook’s avatar, Art3mis, in the Zak Penn-scripted adaptation.
Of the five actresses allegedly on The Beard’s shortlist, three of them have now been revealed:
Elle Fanning worked with Spielberg on SUPER 8, and has done a strong job of setting herself apart from Oscar-nominated Dakota with stuff like MALEFICENT and the upcoming TRUMBO (her reading of “He’s not coming back” in THE NINES still gives me chills). Olivia Cooke (also up for STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII) broke out in ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL as the latter title character. Lola Kirke was solid as the young lady Amy Dunne unwisely confides in in GONE GIRL, and just got strong notices for her co-lead role in Noah Baumbach’s MISTRESS AMERICA. As for the two remaining actresses allegedly up for the role, your guess is as good as mine.
Fanning is only 17, which may be too young for this character, but even the oldest, Kirke, is 24, giving you an idea of what age range they want Art3mis to fall in. None of these girls scream gun-toting badass, but the character clearly has to be more nuanced than that, and Spielberg has never really been the type to go for the hot-face-big-tits look.
READY PLAYER ONE’s got a ways to go until its December 2017 release date, so Spielberg’s got some time to look at all his options regarding this character. Plus, he’s got to cast the other major roles, including protagonist Wade Watts and OASIS creator James Halliday (which, as our very own Quint reported, may go to GENE freakin’ WILDER).
I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of the guy who made JAWS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK directing this movie (and I'll bet Ernie Cline is too), but I’m sure whatever cast he amasses is going to be a good one. Who wouldn’t want to work with Sir Spielberg?
READY PLAYER ONE will be, ahem, ready on December 15th, 2017.
