Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn may best be known for his role as Danny Rayburn in Netflix's "Bloodline," but he's been an impressive character actor for some time now. The versatile performer has shown off a creepy and off-putting side in many of his roles and that should serve him well as the villain in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of "Ready Player One."
The project is still searching for its male lead, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Mendelsohn is in early negations to play the main antagonist of the film.
Based on the book of the same name, "Ready Player One" takes place in the year 2044 and follows the teenaged Wade Watts as he and the majority of Earth's residents escape from their dystopian present via the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. The central plot revolves around the creator of OASIS' dying contribution: a massive scavenger hunt that bequeaths control of the virtual world and his vast fortune to the winner. Mendelsohn will likely play an evil executive of a massive conglomerate who is attempting to eliminate any and all competition for the grand prize.
Littered with pop culture references and a 1980s vibe, "Ready Player One" promises to be a fun adventure film with the potential for stunning visuals. The cast already includes "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" and "Bates Motel" star Olivia Cooke.
Despite the video game-like hook, "Ready Player One" has enough human elements to attract general audiences - Wade is a poor, kind-hearted orphan - but the majority of the story takes place in virtual reality with avatars, space battles, wizards and other sci-fi centric elements. It will be very interesting to see how Spielberg attempts to present the film and how deals with the mountain of pop culture references (he has already said he will be eliminating all references to his own films).
"Ready Player One" will hit theaters on Dec. 15, 2017.
