FILM 1858: READY PLAYER ONE
TRIVIA: Besides the obvious Bigfoot, Delorean, and Akira vehicles, other notables in the race were the Mach 5, Batmobile, A Team van, V8 Interceptor, Christine and the Trans-Am from Smokey and the Bandit
Steven Spielberg is referenced (along with some of his movies) in Ernest Cline's source novel. Spielberg had stated that he would remove these references, although some like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the alien ship from War of the Worlds (2005), do appear.
At one point in the movie, the gang goes into a simulation of the hotel from The Shining(1980). In real life, Steven Spielberg was close friends with The Shining's director, Stanley Kubrick. Spielberg even once called the scene where Wendy finds Jack's novel as "a great example of counter intuitive direction".
The Zemeckis Cube is named after director Robert Zemeckis. When the cube is activated, the music playing is from the Back to the Future (1985) trilogy, directed by Zemeckis. Alan Silvestri composed the score for both the Back to the Future trilogy and this film.
The box containing the Orb of Osuvox is the same one Gizmo is in when he's given to Billy in Gremlins (1984).
The character Curator, that guides people around Halliday's Journal is based on long time popular character actor Arthur Treacher, best known for playing butlers and other British roles.
Around the 35' mark, Halliday is shown on the cover of WIRED magazine with a QR code. The code is readable, and links to an accompanying article on Halliday (July 2018).
During the scene inside the shop, in the background you can see the flying RV from Spaceballs, the space pod from 2001, a Colonial Viper, a star fighter from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Ed 209, and a loader from Aliens.
The semi-truck blocking the road in the middle of the opening race is the truck driven by Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
Boba Fett is at the bar where the dance number is done.
Christopher Nolan, Robert Zemeckis, Matthew Vaughn, Peter Jackson and Edgar Wrightwere all considered to direct this film.
Toshiro's virtual avatar 'Daito' is a samurai which resembles Japan's legendary actor Toshiro Mifune who has played a samurai in many films during his long distinguished career.
On August 11, 2015, a rumor began circulating that Steven Spielberg was "courting" Gene Wilder to play OASIS creator James Halliday in his later years, which would've made this the first film Wilder has done since 1999. However, Wilder's dementia had progressed to a point where he could no longer remember lines and couldn't take the part.
When Wade first goes to the club to meet Art3mis, the bartender has a Devo Hat on from their famous video Whip It.
The team of pop-culture experts that help Sorrento hunt for the Halliday Easter Egg are called "oologists" in the movie. Oology is an actual science that studies and collects bird eggs.
