Steven Spielberg Will Skip The References To His Own Movies In 'Ready Player One'

Ready Player One may be the decade's hottest sci-fi novel, which means a great deal of attention will be paid to the details of its forthcoming film adaptation. Even though it isn't slated to open until December 2017, Steven Spielberg, who is directing the movie, has already begun fielding questions.

First up: Will the bounty of references to his own films make it into the movie? The answer: Nope.

In Ready Player One, written by Ernest Cline, a teenager enters a virtual-reality world in which participants solve puzzles based on pop-culture nostalgia in hopes of obtaining a fortune. Things turn deadly, but not before the main character encounters allusions to Spielberg's catalog, including the "Indiana Jones" series, the failed "E.T." Atari game and two movies he produced, "Back to the Future" and "The Goonies." 

“They reference so many '80s movies. I’m doing the whole pop-culture thing. I’m just going to leave myself out of it,” Spielberg said while promoting "Bridge of Spies" in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly . “I can’t do that. Too self-referential.”

Spielberg is currently casting the film. Olivia Cooke ("Bates Motel," "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl") was selected as the female lead, while Nick Robinson ("Jurassic World," "Melissa & Joey") is reportedly among the actors being eyed for the male lead . Production is set to begin next year.

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