Simon Pegg in talks to join Steven Spielberg's science fiction thriller Ready Player One

Sci-fi movie veteran Simon Pegg is in negotiations to join the cast of Steven Spielberg's dystopian film Ready Player One. X-Men: Apocalypse's Tye Sheridan is already on board to lead the growing cast, which also includes Bates Motel star Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline).

Based on the best-selling sci-fi novel of the same name by Ernest Cline, the film is set in a virtual world called Oasis and will tell the story of teenager Wade Owen Watts (Sheridan). Throughout the book, Wade finds himself having to compete in a treasure hunt against ruthless foes after the game's founder dies and offers his fortune as the grand prize.

Cooke will be playing Sam, a Canadian blogger who is known in the Oasis world as Art3mis, and will become a love interest for the lead character. Mendelsohn is playing the executive of an Internet company who is trying to take control of Oasis and if he accepts a potential offer made to him, Pegg is expected to play Orgen Morrow, the co-creator of Oasis.

Zak Penn (Avengers Assemble) has adapted Cline's adaptation of his own book. The film is aiming to begin shooting in June 2016 according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film is currently slated to reach cinemas around 30 March 2018.

The project would reunite Pegg with Spielberg, if he takes the role, after they both worked together on the 2011 animation The Adventures of Tintin. Pegg most recently starred in the action blockbuster Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation alongside Tom Cruise and the comedy Absolutely Anything. He also appeared –unrecognisable – as Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He is set to reprise his role as the iconic Scotty in this summer's Star Trek Beyond, which he also co-wrote the script for alongside Doug Jung.

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