Spielberg is a big fan of making an entire "serious" movie while simultaneously finishing off the special effects sequences on one of his more "fun" movies.
He did it with Jurassic Park and Schindler's List (they came out within six months of each other), he did it with The Lost World and Amistad (also six months between them), and again with Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can, and with War Of The Worlds and Munich (both five month gaps).
Now he's done it again, with a mere two months between his release of The Post (which we loved), and his upcoming science fiction blockbuster, Ready Player One.
The movie is based on a best-selling book by Ernest Cline, who doubles here as co-screenwriter on the movie, and it tells the story of a poor teenager in the not-too-distant future (played by Tye Sheridan) who discovers the first clue to location of a vast amount of riches in an online virtual reality world, left behind the world's creator (Mark Rylance).
It is essentially a digital age version of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, except that instead of chocolate and candy, the players (and the viewers) are filled to the brim nostalgic 80's references, many of which are nods towards Spielberg's own back catalogue.
A perfect marriage of creator and created, The World's Greatest Living Director (TM) gets to dip back into his own CV - as well as a lot of others, hello Back To The Future, The Iron Giant, Akira, etc. - and he is using cutting edge technology to merge them all together.
In a new Making Of featurette, we get to see the behind the scenes of what is sure to be one of the most talked about movies of the year.
Ready Player One will arrive in cinemas here on Friday 30 March.
Clip via Warner Brother Pictures
