Ready Player One: Simon Pegg in talks to join Steven Spielberg movie

Simon Pegg is looking to log on to Ready Player One. The Shaun of the Dead and Star Trek Beyond actor is in negotiations to join the cast of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film based on the novel by Ernest Cline, EW has confirmed.

Pegg would play Ogden Morrow in the near-future tale; he’s the co-creator of a massively popular virtual world called Oasis that serves as an escape from the dreariness of the outside world.

Should the deal go through, Pegg will join a cast featuring Tye Sheridan as Wade, the teenage protagonist on a high-stakes treasure hunt through Oasis, which is filled with references to 1970s and ’80s pop culture. Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn are also on board. Spielberg is directing from a script by Zak Penn.

Warner Bros. will release Ready Player One on March 30, 2018.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported Pegg’s negotiations.