Photo credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com
Photo credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

It’s not uncommon for filmmakers to collaborate with certain actors and actresses frequently. Edgar Wright constantly works with his good friends Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Wes Anderson utilizes a whole stable of major names including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody in his movies. And Kevin Smith manages to squeeze his hetero life mate Jason Mewes in a number of his projects. Now, legendary director Steven Spielberg is the latest to bring in a past collaborator for his latest feature.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance is in final negotiations to join ‘Ready Player One’ as James Donovan Halliday, the enigmatic creator of OASIS that has been likened to Howard Hughes and Steve Jobs whose death impacts the world of this story greatly. It is Halliday’s fortune that sends the characters played by Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn on a treasure hunt through a virtual world.

While he is currently working with Christopher Nolan on World War II epic ‘Dunkirk’, Rylance is best known to most audience today for his work with Spielberg. Following his performance in ‘Bridge of Spies’, he went on to voice and mo-cap the titular character of the upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s ‘The BFG’. Rylance will also play Pope Pius IX for Spielberg’s ‘The Kidnapping Of Edgardo Mortara’. Now with ‘Ready Player One’ on the books, that brings the duo’s collaboration to three films in a row and four overall.

What do you think about Mark Rylance joining ‘Ready Player One’? Do you think that he’ll make a good James Donovan Halliday? Let us know in the comments below. 

‘Ready Player One’ starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, and Simon Pegg hits theaters on March 30, 2018.

Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences and puns far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.