Spielberg's Ready Player One On Track to Become Solid (If Not Spectacular) Tron Legacy-Type Hit

Refuting my earlier concerns, Spielberg's Ready Player One adaptation opened quite well last weekend:

The virtual reality fantasy released with a healthy $53 million at the North American box office and picked up an additional $128 million overseas, bringing its global total to $181.2 million. That was enough to land the director of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Jurassic Park” his biggest debut since “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” launched in 2008 with $100 million.

Notably, the movie did really well in China, which has the largest market for VR/online games by far. Also notable, the opening box office performance was very similar to 2010's Tron Legacy, another "adventure in a virtual world with 80s pop culture nostalgia elements". That movie wound up making $400 million in the box office, a solid (if not record-breaking) hit.

Whether this success spurs consumer interest in social VR and virtual worlds is still an open question. NWN readers aren't super impressed on that front:

I thought it was not really exhibiting a virtual world - more like a giant MMORPG. Nothing in it really showed users creating new content, only the barest glimpses of anything but action gaming were shown... I liked the movie overall, it's fun, and has plenty of explosions - but it's not about a virtual world, not really; and if you go in expecting that, you'll probably be disappointed. - Adam

 It is a movie produced by someone who has not spent many years living in a virtual world, pretending that they have the faintest idea of what that might be like. So they imagine it like the typical shoot to kill game that dominates the game markets these days. It is just another pretty movie, it will change nothing at all. The funny thing is, I can quite imagine the future of virtual worlds like this. What hideous mess. glad I will be long dead by then. - JohnC

 [T]he movie will do nothing for the VR corporate sellers because it will greatly disappoint new people to VR when they find that current technology doesn't even come close to the movie's visual quality. - rogert

My own take soon!

Comments

[jonny]

This movie made me lose what little respect I had for Spielberg.

If he teleported on to my land, dressed as a teen with his cap backwards, I'd drop kick him into my neighbor's koy pond.

[jonny]

That's KOI POND!

[Metacam Oh]

I was entertained by the movie, but as a VR enthusiast and I dont think this spoils anything in the movie, but the parts where people were walking down the street wearing VR gear and being submersed in the Oasis really really bothered me. Your not going to be walking down a busy city street when your supposed to be in an entirely different environment. It makes no sense at all, please if someone can explain how this makes sense I would love to hear it, it would make me feel better about the movie. ( I don't remember this type of nonsense in the book)

[Clara Seller]

One big difference between the movie and RL virtual reality offerings is that today's consumer doesn't get the pleasure of searching for an Easter egg. Instead of inheriting a fortune, they get to lose a fortune on lameness.

RL virtual reality is pretty lame right now and consumers haven't been suckered into it in huge numbers. Schindler's List was a great movie, but we weren't hoping it would herd people into concentration camps. Consumers would have a better chance of getting a RL version of a concentration camp experience than they would get the other movies virtual reality experience.

[Josain Zsun]

I attended local 1st showing, which happened to be "3D". First disappointment. I kept wishing it was a video, so I could do instant replay on scenes I thought they could have done an impressive scene.
The movie was what would be expected from a Hollywood special effects extravaganza.
It occasionally reminded me of the book…kinda. Most of the characters are present in both. That's about it.
My thoughts to those that have not read the book. See the movie and be even more mindblown to read the book.
My thoughts to those that have read the book. See the movie with no expectations from the book. It will be a Hollywood special effects romp.