It’s been a while since Steven Spielberg enjoyed a big hit at the box office, with his recent efforts such as Bridge of Spies, The BFG and The Post all grossing below $200 million around the world.
However, his latest film Ready Player One, an adaptation of Ernest Cline’s cult novel, has now passed the $500 million mark globally. That’s thanks in no small part to China, where the film delivered Warner Bros.’ best ever opening of $61 million, and has went on to pull in over $200 million, making the Middle Kingdom its biggest market.
It’s a double celebration for Spielberg, as he has also become the first director whose films have pulled in a combined $10 billion in unadjusted ticket sales – led by his 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, which has grossed $983.8 million globally.
As it happens, Ready Player One is only the sixth Spielberg movie to surpass $500 million worldwide – the last being 2005’s War of the Worlds which grossed $491.7 million.
Ready Player One is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger.
Ready Player One sees Steven Spielberg (The BFG) directing a cast that includes Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) as Parzival, Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) as Art3mis, Simon Pegg (Star Trek Beyond) as Ogden Morrow, Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Nolan Sorrento, T.J. Miller (Deadpool) as i-R0k, Hannah John-Kamen (Game of Thrones) as F’Nale Zandor, Win Morisaki as Diato, newcomer Philip Zhao as Shoto and Mark Rylance (The BFG) as James Halliday.
