RPO is one of my favorite light reads but I have a hard time believing they will make a coherent movie of it.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm betting on a flop.

It's been a while since I read the book, but I could have sworn there's an obnoxious character named i-Rok or something very similar. Maybe I'm thinking of Todd13.

There was. TJ hasn't read the source material and pretty much came up with his own answer for that.

All I know is that newspaper in the upper left has a prominent headline that improperly reads:

"Since 2021 more then 20 million VR headsets sold."

Should be "more than."

I honestly don't understand how a mistake like that makes it this far. Or is this future world supposed to be Idiocracy-esque?

TCTTS said:

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First official image just released by Entertainment Weekly, ahead of the release of the first trailer next week at Comic-Con / with Dunkirk...

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not really what I imagined when reading the book

I've never read the book, but it's worth reminding everyone again that this movie likely isn't going to follow it super close. From the leaked early draft of the screenplay I posted last year to everything we've read in interviews, I would brace yourselves for something a little different. Probably the main reason why I'm waiting to read the book after the movie.

Yeah I always imagined more of a helmet like this:

PatAg said:

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TCTTS said:

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First official image just released by Entertainment Weekly, ahead of the release of the first trailer next week at Comic-Con / with Dunkirk...

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not really what I imagined when reading the book

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Pretty similar to what I imagined...


Man, I am so excited for this. This has the chance to be pretty special with Spielberg behind it... I own the book on my Kindle and went ahead and ordered a paperback. Looking forward to reading it again.

TCTTS said:

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I've never read the book, but it's worth reminding everyone again that this movie likely isn't going to follow it super close...

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I'm sure it will be a lot like the Ender's Game movie. They will get most of the main stuff and characters in there, but they will have to rush or simply skip so many details that it will feel very shallow for those that read the book.

Much like Enders Game, so much of the story revolves around the journey/growth the protagonist takes over a period of time (as opposed to a more confined and short time frame). And more importantly, the protagonist interacts with several characters along the way and they are all key. That's hard to do for a movie. I know for Enders Game it felt like they simply went from one plot line to the next (checking boxes) until they got to the climax and then roll credits.

I'm still excited for it though!

Enders Game (movie) was so terrible... although unlike most people I thought that book was really overrated.


This book however, one of the best things I've ever read. Too bad Armada sucked.

I recently read this book because of this thread. I loved the story, but the writing was only so, so.

His van is much more spartan in the book.

Talked to my friend again last night who's seen the upcoming trailer multiple times. I purposely didn't want specifics, but he just kept raving about the "scope." Says it's so massive and unlike anything he's ever seen. I've honestly never heard this friend rave about anything like he has for this trailer. And he's usually a pretty jaded guy, especially when it comes to industry jobs his company is involved with.

Though, he's not sure if what he's seen is the actual trailer or a seprarate piece for Comic-Con. We both assume they'll likely be the same thing, but aren't 100% certain. Either way, we'll find out later this week with Dunkirk / at Comic-Con.

They will probably gloss over that I'm sure

The point is about the development of the main character. That's a big (and obvious) part of it.

It also is part of the story about how the avatars and people can be very different

I love the book but I just know Hollywood will ruin this.

I agree that having Wade be overweight is a pretty big part of the story. I guess they could still make him somewhat awkward or really shy and get some of the same points across, but it would be alot better if he was overweight.

mavsfan4ever said:

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I agree that having Wade be overweight is a pretty big part of the story. I guess they could still make him somewhat awkward or really shy and get some of the same points across, but it would be alot better if he was overweight.

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Fat suits aren't that hard to do.

To me, poor was more a defining characteristic of Wade than fat. Yeah, he's fat, but they don't put near as much emphasis on it and it's not nearly as important to his character as being poor, an orphan, and living in FEMA trailers stacked on top of each other. They'll still get a similar level of impact from transitioning from poor and skinny to hairless, skinny and rich "Matrix battery" equivalent. Wade's thing was that even in the virtual world he lacked full escapism, because he couldn't afford to traverse the different worlds, the other character's "flaws" were more grounded in the physical than his.

Art3mis' birthmark and Aech's being a girl for example.

I'm reading the book and don't even recall them saying he is fat. Maybe it is there but it isn't emphasized in the first half of the book.

I picture that kid from Freaks and Geeks. No not that kid, the other kid.

Keep reading.

what key are you on?

hph6203 said:

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To me, poor was more a defining characteristic of Wade than fat. Yeah, he's fat, but they don't put near as much emphasis on it and it's not nearly as important to his character as being poor, an orphan, and living in FEMA trailers stacked on top of each other. They'll still get a similar level of impact from transitioning from poor and skinny to hairless, skinny and rich "Matrix battery" equivalent. Wade's thing was that even in the virtual world he lacked full escapism, because he couldn't afford to traverse the different worlds, the other character's "flaws" were more grounded in the physical than his.

Art3mis' birthmark and Aech's being a girl for example.

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Plus he loses the weight in the book so this whole argument is moot.

The argument was about if they would show that happening or not. But I guess I agree that they might be able to show personal development in other ways.

Well if it's going to just be loosely based on the book, then my interest level in the movie has gone down a lot. Still going to follow any developments, but there has been a pretty poor track record of Hollywood producing quality stories that are "loosely" based, imo.

I really hope this movie is a success. Simply because I want a neuromancer mini series in hbo