The Force Awakens and Star Trek Beyond alum Simon Pegg has been brought aboard Steven Spielberg’s long-anticipated adaptation of Ready Player One, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and he’s set to play a character billed as “Santa meets Albert Einstein.”
That part in question is Ogden “Og” Morrow, co-creator of the ultra-futuristic virtual reality haven known as the OASIS. Best friend and close colleague to James Donovan (Ben Mendelsohn), the pair’s relationship underpins Ernest Cline’s beloved source material – the Wozniak to Donovan’s Jobs, in essence.
In Cline’s sci-fi novel, Morrow is described as so: “His wild grey hair and long beard made him look like a cross between Albert Einstein and Santa Claus. That comparison was also a pretty good description of his personality.”
It’s quite the eccentric part for Pegg to assume, who has won over the hearts and minds of fans following endearing roles in Paramount’s rebooted Star Trek universe, not to mention Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.
Olivia Cooke and Tye Sheridan are also on board the long-gestating adaptation. On one hand, Cooke is set to portray Art3mis, a “gunter who is hunting for the keys that will let the one who solves the riddle to own the OASIS,” while X-Men star Sheridan will bring Wade Owen Watts/Wade3 to life on the silver screen in early 2018.
Bumped from its initial December 2017 slot to avoid a collision with Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII, Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One will finally welcome moviegoers into OASIS on March 30, 2018.