Simon Pegg is reported to be in negotiations to play Orgen Morrow in Steven Spielberg‘s big screen adaptation of Ernest Cline’s best selling sci-fi novel ‘Ready Player One’. Pegg has made a name for himself headlining nerd-targeted genre fare like the TV series ‘Spaced’ and films like the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’: ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ‘Hot Fuzz’ and ‘The World’s End‘. In the meantime, he has also become familiar to mainstream audiences with his scene-stealing roles in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Star Trek’ franchises. His works, particularly ‘Spaced’, have been drenched in pop culture references, as is Cline’s novel, so this could be a perfect fit.
The role of Orgen Morrow is the co-creator of OASIS, a virtual reality world in which the bulk of the novel takes place. After the death of Morrow’s partner, James Halliday, several individuals venture into OASIS on a deadly treasure hunt to unlock the game’s Easter Eggs and inherit his fortune to become the wealthiest person in the world.
Already cast in the film, which is rumored to go into production in June, are ‘X-Men: Apocalypse”s Tye Sheridan as lead character Wade Watts/Parzival, Olivia Cooke as competitor/blogger Samantha Evelyn Cooke/Art3mis and Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento, the story’s major villain. The film’s release date was recently moved to March 30, 2018. It was originally slated for December 2017, but moved after Disney announced plans to release ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Tale’ in the same month.
Ironically, Pegg was most recently seen on the silver screen in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ completely obscured by CGI as the alien Unkar Plutt. He will be seen this summer in another huge space franchise, ‘Star Trek Beyond’ in which he reprises his role as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott. Pegg also rewrote the script for the film.
Do you think Pegg would be a welcome addition to ‘Ready Player One’?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
