Ready Player One (2018) FILM Discussion

[Thor 7,478]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

 

We'll agree to disagree. I bet some people thought Connery was too big a star to cast in Last Crusade!

 

"James Bond in Indiana Jones? Too distracting!"

 

Actually, that was one of the main points of the casting. As Spielberg himself has said, he wanted Indy to be a sort of 'godson' of James Bond. I thought it was a brilliant idea!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

He should cast Tom Hanks as Shia Lebeouf's original adoptive father, who it turns out isn't dead after all.

 

"I intended Mutt to be a sort of godson of Forrest Gump."

[Thor 7,478]

2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

He should cast Tom Hanks as Shia Lebeouf's original adoptive father, who it turns out isn't dead after all.

 

"I intended Mutt to be a sort of godson of Forrest Gump."

 

[mrbellamy 6,272]

21 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

He should cast Tom Hanks as Shia Lebeouf's original adoptive father, who it turns out isn't dead after all.

 

"I intended Mutt to be a sort of godson of Forrest Gump."

 

Oh man, the possibilities are endless....

 

"Bringing Tom Hanks into the Indiana Jones family and partnering him with Shia's Mutt will finally create the Turner and Hooch relationship that I always envisioned."

[Jay 37,323]

TJ Miller cast

 

[Jay 37,323]

Steven Spielberg Cut References to “Most of His Movies” Out of ‘Ready Player One’

[Will 2,215]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11665522

 

About Spielberg's work on Ready Player One: 

 

Quote

At the same time he's still experimenting with virtual reality on the upcoming Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline's dystopian novel.

 

Quote

"I think we should all try new techniques but we'll be criticised for some of the virtual reality we're attempting here," he says. "It's going to be fun to see if it will be a lasting medium or a flash in the pan."

 

[crumbs 14,305]

First week of filming complete already. Spielberg's a machine!

Given the speed he shoots and edits (Kahn edits during filming), they should be on track to deliver Williams the first cut in November.  

 

Presumably it will be green screen heavy though?

[mrbellamy 6,272]

How awkward is that set going to be around Spielberg this week?

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I hope the failure of The BFG will have a positive influence on Spielberg for this film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The BFG is hardly the first time a Spielberg film didnt live up to it's financial expectations.

[A24 4,327]

He won't change his course.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

What course? Does he have a course? I very much doubt it. He just picks the films he's interested in directing.

[A24 4,327]

4 hours ago, Stefancos said:

What course? Does he have a course?

 

IMO, if one is constantly doing the same, one is following a course.

 

 

4 hours ago, Stefancos said:

I very much doubt it. He just picks the films he's interested in directing.

 

In these dark ages Spielberg no longer gets every project financed. If Spielberg were to explore new horizons then money people will surely be spooked. 

[crumbs 14,305]

Spielberg has enough money to make any film he wants, but refuses. He'll only make films at other people's expense, just like any smart businessman. He probably sunk a lot of money into Dreamworks and didn't get the return he wanted.

 

But he's got nothing to prove, does he? He got his Oscar for Schindler's and it marked a turning point for him as a director. I doubt BFG's flop will influence RPO, though it will cement his desire to nail Indy 5; it's a guaranteed financial success that will stroke his ego and I feel he wants to redeem KOTCS. He won't admit it but I think he takes negative feedback to heart, from fans moreso than critics. Just look at how he's shunned his E.T. Special Edition.

[A24 4,327]

5 minutes ago, crumbs said:

But he's got nothing to prove, does he? 

 

And it shows ... 

 

BTW, what turning point?

[crumbs 14,305]

43 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

And it shows ... 

 

Unfortunately Spielberg feels a bit autopilot these days. His films are technically proficient but lack the energy and heart of earlier works. You wonder if the endless Oscar bait bore-fests are films he wants to make or if he's just obsessed with chasing accolades and acknowledgement from peers that he's forgotten why he became a filmmaker in the first place. His choice in films feels solely influenced by the production line of historical-drama scripts landing on his desk each afternoon, and only touches the "easy" ones he can shoot, edit and release within 12 months for Oscar season. There's no risks, no trace of his auteur roots. The "Spielberg touch" used to mean a lot more than long takes, Kaminski lighting and Williams' music. 

 

Montezuma is a great case study here; does anyone think Spielberg will eventually direct this property? I'm waiting for Spielberg to again challenge me as a viewer, his DP, his composer and, most importantly, himself. He's been sleepwalking through films for a decade and hasn't challenged himself since A.I. The results may have been mixed, but I'd rather watch A.I. for the 5th time than Lincoln, War Horse or Bridge of Spies for the 2nd.

 

I think the backlash over Munich (an exquisitely crafted thriller) took a lot out of him; everything's been risk-averse since, to the point I doubt he'll touch a remotely violent R-rated property again. It's hard to believe it was only 10 years ago he directed this incredible scene (NSFW):

 

There's clearly a fertile and unexplored fascination with this kind of disturbing imagery in Spielberg's mind. Alas, if it doesn't pass his Hallmark Channel comfort-zone test, he ain't interested anymore. Just compare his use of violence in the Indy trilogy vs KOTCS; for whatever reason he's become uncomfortable with portraying violence and it's stripped an edge off his films.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

More entitled fanboy whining, great.

[A24 4,327]

I agree with crumbs. Spielberg is falling asleep while he should be making progress. It feels like he no longer has aspirations. Maybe it's an age thing. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Of course it is. He's content, has nothing to prove and just likes to keep busy.

[Quintus 5,399]

Let us not forget that people in their thirties and forties on internet forums know all about what its like to be a 70 year old artist who has long since achieved the pinnacle of a career spanning decades and became an influential legend around the same time. They know exactly what drives that person even as many of that person's peers enter retirement and pursue more private or deeply personal interests. They know what they should do next more than the grizzled artist does themselves, because they know everything, on the internet. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Exactly!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

To be honest, I miss the Spielberg that made A.I.

[crocodile 7,990]

I miss Spielberg that didn't make me fall asleep. He's been gone for almost 20 years now (or perhaps even over). I'm 31 now and the last time I saw gim in top form was when I was around 8. It's not that I didn't enjoy anything he's done since 1993. But even the ones I liked are essentially half-films, impressive sequences with not a lot holding them together. 

 

Karol

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

You're right.

[Quintus 5,399]

My solution is to just not bother watching the films I don't particularly fancy. In Spielberg's case that amounts to about 10% of his total output. 

[publicist 4,643]

But you don't know that before you start watching them.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Catch Me If You Can was the last Spielberg flick I saw where he seemed to be into it and was having fun. But for a chase caper movie, it was still bloated (2.5 hours) and the pacing was wonky.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

 

16 minutes ago, Nick Tatopoulos's Beret said:

Catch Me If You Can was the last Spielberg flick I saw where he seemed to be into it and was having fun.

 

Bullshit! That's just you saying that because you liked that film more then anything that came after. It doesnt mean Spielberg enjoyed making it more then say The Terminal or Tintin.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Yeah you can tell he had a blast with Tintin.

[Quintus 5,399]

2 hours ago, publicist said:

But you don't know that before you start watching them.

 

3 hours ago, Lonnegan said:

My solution is to just not bother watching the films I don't particularly fancy.

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

8 hours ago, Muad'Dib said:

Yeah you can tell he had a blast with Tintin.

 

Would that constitute a joke?

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

7 hours ago, Nick Tatopoulos's Beret said:

Would that constitute a joke?

 

That's a lotta fish.

[TownerFan 4,983]

On ‎04‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 4:07 AM, crumbs said:

First week of filming complete already. Spielberg's a machine!

Given the speed he shoots and edits (Kahn edits during filming), they should be on track to deliver Williams the first cut in November.  

 

I don't know how big and complicated the post-production will be (probably a lot), but if JW and Spielberg already settled the timeframe for the scoring process it's likely everything is mapped out. So my guess (speculation mode ON) is that JW will write Ready Player One from November until January and then record it in February or March 2017. Then he will go straight to Episode VIII, which will keep him busy likely from March till June 2017; the score will likely be recorded in late summer. And following that, Williams will write The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (which probably won't need a lot of music) in September/October 2017 and record it right after (release date is aimed for late November). And after that, he will have time to do whatever additional scoring Ready Player One might need. So it's gonna be a very busy year and a half (at least) for the Maestro  

[Jay 37,323]

There will likely be a second round of Episode 8 scoring sessions also, sometime in October or so

 

Is The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara 100% unequivocally confirmed that it WILL be shot AND released in 2017?

[crumbs 14,305]

9 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

 

I don't know how big and complicated the post-production will be (probably a lot), but if JW and Spielberg already settled the timeframe for the scoring process it's likely everything is mapped out. So my guess (speculation mode ON) is that JW will write Ready Player One from November until January and then record it in February or March 2017. Then he will go straight to Episode VIII, which will keep him busy likely from March till June 2017; the score will likely be recorded in late summer. And following that, Williams will write The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (which probably won't need a lot of music) in September/October 2017 and record it right after (release date is aimed for late November). And after that, he will have time to do whatever additional scoring Ready Player One might need. So it's gonna be a very busy year and a half (at least) for the Maestro  

 

Yep. He recently mentioned he wants some time off in the immediate future, and I think the only thing on his schedule is Tanglewood next month. That gives him a nice break before RPO in November.

 

A lot will depend on when Spielberg shoots Edgardo; I think the most likely situation is Williams will take a break after RPO is recorded, start writing VIII in March, then score Edgardo during a 2 month intermission around June, before returning to do pickups for VIII in October (similar to the intended TFA/BoS plan).

 

Then, if RPO needs pickups, he can do that in January 2018.

[TownerFan 4,983]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

Is The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara 100% unequivocally confirmed that it WILL be shot AND released in 2017?

 

Looks like it. yes. I know for certain Spielberg's people already did location scouting here in Italy several months ago (film will be shot mostly in Bologna, northern Italy).

7 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

Yep. He recently mentioned he wants some time off in the immediate future, and I think the only thing on his schedule is Tanglewood next month. That gives him a nice break before RPO in November.

 

A lot will depend on when Spielberg shoots Edgardo; I think the most likely situation is Williams will take a break after RPO is recorded, start writing VIII in March, then score Edgardo during a 2 month intermission around June, before returning to do pickups for VIII in October (similar to the intended TFA/BoS plan).

 

Then, if RPO needs pickups, he can do that in January 2018.

 

He actually said he's writing a concert piece for an unmentioned European artist, so it's not like he's strolling around the garden

 

It's always very difficult to predict scheduling timeframes when it comes to these kind of people. What is sure is that JW will secure the right amount of time he needs to work properly on each film he will score.

[Jay 37,323]

Cool.  So basically confirmed we'll be getting 3 Williams scores within a 3 month span in late 2017 / early 2018... fucking awesome!

[crumbs 14,305]

23 minutes ago, Jay said:

There will likely be a second round of Episode 8 scoring sessions also, sometime in October or so. Is The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara 100% unequivocally confirmed that it WILL be shot AND released in 2017?

 

According to Variety, yes:

Quote

Spielberg would shoot the film in the first quarter of 2017 after he finishes production on “Ready Player One.” Tony Kushner is penning the script.

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/steven-spielberg-kidnapping-of-edgardo-mortara-mark-rylance-1201750856/

 

He'll probably wrap RPO in November, get post-production underway (and hand off the rough cut to Williams), take a small break with his family over the festive season then head off to Europe and start shooting. I have no real idea of the film's scale but presumably this would be a fast shoot for Spielberg; two months, maybe? Wasn't Lincoln only about 50 days?

 

16 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

He actually said he's writing a concert piece for an unmentioned European artist, so it's not like he's strolling around the garden

 

Oops, forgot about that, and the short film for Kobe Bryant! There's a few things on his plate before November then, but hopefully none too taxing for him.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I had missed that Kushner is writing the screenplay for Edgardo. I'm like a broken record on how much I love Lincoln so I'm 100% more excited for this now!

[crumbs 14,305]

1 minute ago, Disco Stu said:

I had missed that Kushner is writing the screenplay for Edgardo. I'm like a broken record on how much I love Lincoln so I'm 100% more excited for this now!

 

Yep, Kushner is a brilliant writer, fantastic to see the 'Berg working with him regularly now. Seems he's been working on the script for a while too, according to this article from early 2014:

http://collider.com/steven-spielberg-kidnapping-of-edgardo-mortara-robopocalypse/

 

It even says Spielberg was committed to directing Kidnapping as far back as 2014, though he also had Robopocalypse and Steven Zaillian's Montezuma as his next 2 films. Instead we got Bridge of Spies, The BFG, Edgardo Montara and Indiana Jones V.

[Jay 37,323]

When "It's What I Do" was announced, it seemed like it was ready to be filmed; I mean, why else would you announce the lead actress right away?  I wonder what happened behind the scenes with that one.  J-Law too busy?  Spielberg lost interest?

[Romão 2,274]

Ready Player will be mostly done in post. Not many real life elements on that one. So principal photography should be really fast

[mrbellamy 6,272]

11 hours ago, Jay said:

When "It's What I Do" was announced, it seemed like it was ready to be filmed; I mean, why else would you announce the lead actress right away?  I wonder what happened behind the scenes with that one.  J-Law too busy?  Spielberg lost interest?

 

Eh, not really. 

 

The announcement last year was that Warner Bros had won the rights to the memoir in an auction and that Spielberg and Lawrence were "attached" to the project. The producer is Andrew Lazar who probably had some kind of working relationship with Spielberg when he was gonna do American Sniper, somehow got Jennifer Lawrence in on it and asked if they'd be interested, they said yes -- no way of knowing if this was a formal or informal agreement -- and in any case "attached" themselves to the project. Just like Spielberg was "attached" to do American Sniper (although he was more committed to that one by the time he quit, he had a script and was starting to move toward production.)

 

But unlike Edgardo Mortara, nothing was mentioned about a script here or even that they'd hired a writer, nothing about a production start date, no release date in mind. All we know is that it kind of exists now and the producers are probably getting together financing and a screenplay (plus research) with the idea that Steven Spielberg and Jennifer Lawrence will do it together as a package deal. But that could change if they don't like the script, or some scheduling conflict comes up when the movie's finally ready to go. Maybe they'll wind up having to replace one or the other or both with equally big names in order to keep the budget (a la Clint Eastwood taking Sniper), or else figure out a way to reduce the budget in exchange for a less prestigious actress/director combination, etc.

 

That's how these things fall apart and it's this kind of stuff that allows Spielberg to "attach" himself to tons of shit at once that he probably has no intention of really doing, but maybe it helps get the ball rolling or buys time so a script can be written. Hollywood business for you.

[Jay 37,323]

OK that explains it, thanks for clearing that up!

 

I'd definitely peg that movie at a less than 50% change of Spielberg directing it, then.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Everything is coming together as planned for my prediction that Indy 5 will be the 30th and final Spielberg/Williams feature film....

 

Excellent.

 

[Jay 37,323]

Well since The BFG was their 27th, and its looking like Kidnapping will be 28th (released, 29th written) and Ready Player One will be 29th (28th written), then it all depends if Spielberg crams another easily-shot film in between Kidnapping and Indy 5 or not....

 

And let's not talk about "final" yet shall we!

[mrbellamy 6,272]

Yeah, WTF Stu!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

For sure.

 

I just love the poetry? symmetry? whatever? of them getting to exactly 30 and that 30th film being an Indiana Jones movie. Of course for all I know Williams will continue scoring Spielberg films into his 90s!!

 

3 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

Yeah, WTF Stu!

 

I demand that Spielberg and Williams bend to my OCD nature!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's only right that they end their careers with Jaws 5: Resurrection.