Ready Player One doesn’t hit theaters until the end of the month, but people are already roasting the movie on Twitter for its cringe-worthy posters. The posters mimic those of popular science fiction films of the ’80s, including Blade Runner, Back to the Future, and Labyrinth.
These Ready Player One posters are a form of assault, I’m pressing chargeshttps://t.co/Xf5ySNOMsZ pic.twitter.com/9mzRU8tzuK
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) March 6, 2018
Ready Player One homage posters—who wore it best?
— Fandango (@Fandango) March 7, 2018
Retweet for the THE BREAKFAST CLUB homage v Like for the THE MATRIX homage pic.twitter.com/ArElpzu8J2
Check out these classic film posters with a Ready Player One twist! https://t.co/MrxNE16T53 via @nerdist pic.twitter.com/G9ZfAuYWsU
— Loot Crate (@lootcrate) March 5, 2018
Someone at Warner Bros. apparently decided that this idea was really clever. The result is something that could easily be mistaken for a parody of the film.
For those who aren’t familiar with Ready Player One, it’s an adaptation of Ernest Cline’s popular 2011 dystopian novel of the same name. The novel is set in the year 2044, and people are now so obsessed with virtual reality devices that they have neglected the world around them. The VR world is called the OASIS, and when founder James Halliday dies, he sets up a contest for people to compete for ownership of the company. The competition is devised like a video game, and, because Halliday was obsessed with ’80s pop culture, the winner must also know everything there is to know about ’80s culture to win. The protagonist, Wade Watts, is a teenager who initially spends his days consuming pop culture and exploring the OASIS instead of interacting with other people IRL. The story makes it clear that is lifestyle is obviously not healthy, and interacting with people in the real world is necessary and good.
Still, Watts’ pop culture knowledge is seen as valuable. Clearly, Warner Bros. agrees, and it thinks that all the ’80s references will hook people into seeing the movie. But the posters end up coming off as a massive self-own, and a lot of people hate them.
My eyes! I CANNOT UNSEE. WHYYYYYYYY!?!?! https://t.co/d7eHDYhmYx
— Faintdreams (@faintdreams) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/standardman/status/971150565668474881
https://twitter.com/hooooouuuuooooo/status/971142061616521221
Are these supposed to look like shit? https://t.co/lJTCZWJdzu
— commissions open! dm for details! (@vashaa_arts) March 7, 2018
This is quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Blade Runner hurts me deep, but Bullitt?!?! I don’t even understand who their target audience is for that! Awful in every single way https://t.co/OR9P21iF6f
— Jeremy Bratetich (@Obiwanjezz) March 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/Airoehead/status/971209396704301056
https://twitter.com/SarooBear/status/971162636225261568
These. Are. Awful. Just plain and simple. Surely the movie can’t be THIS bad, right? https://t.co/ksoDyLADi2
— Principal Scottmore (@ScottWGregson) March 7, 2018
new ready player one posters like pic.twitter.com/jXYG7HWbgK
— mara sov’s footrest (@lionetts) March 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/EscoBlades/status/971123171113029632
Looking at these Ready Player One posters like…. pic.twitter.com/cRIu6WoVzF
— Dibiase_ca and 10K others (@Dibiase_ca) March 6, 2018
Best part about the ready player one posters is that their premise is “What if these movies you liked starred someone who fucking sucked?”
— mr. “just joined a new forum” (@Papapishu) March 7, 2018
those ready player one posters are great advertising that communicate what the movie is all about: masturbatory self-inserts that have nothing interesting to say or offer about what they’re referencing
— 20XX (@TheYear20XX) March 6, 2018
i for one think the Ready Player One posters are fantastic because they tell you exactly what you’re getting—the replacement of substance with reference with no real thought past that pic.twitter.com/Qp3DwHvvq0
— Itzu Bird (@Itszutak) March 6, 2018
I JUST SAW THE READY PLAYER ONE POSTERS
— ✨CHELLE D☯GGO✨ (ART ONLY; SEE PINNED) (@ChelleDoggo) March 7, 2018
DAVID BOWIE DIDN’T DIE AND RETURN TO HIS HOME IN THE STARS FOR THIS
Since the posters already look like a bad internet Photoshop job—why not create posters that are even worse?
https://twitter.com/kateleth/status/971126379281444864
Really, why does Watts’ OASIS avatar, Parzival, look this terrible?
https://twitter.com/Mardcon/status/971126562413273088
The internet accepted the challenger and made some new Ready Player One posters.
Not really feeling these new READY PLAYER ONE posters. pic.twitter.com/xFY9Kyfyl4
— Boner Vivant (@Doug_Tilley) March 6, 2018
all those READY PLAYER ONE posters are good, actually pic.twitter.com/PpH3DSeXYX
— DMW! goin’ to TCAF! (@damnyouwillis) March 7, 2018
did i even need to change this one
— DMW! goin’ to TCAF! (@damnyouwillis) March 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/darth/status/971138490128769024
It’s hard to tell which ones are the real posters—and which ones the internet created.