Steven Spielberg has taken out most of the references to his films in Ready Player One

Ready Player One is a novel which loves ’80s pop culture, and as you’re probably aware, Steven Spielberg is a big part of ’80s (and ’70s, and ’90s, and ’00s) pop culture – so when it was announced that he would direct the adaptation of Ready Player One, which takes place in a virtual reality simulation called the OASIS, the question as to whether he would reference his own films was brought to light.

During a press day while promoting The BFG, Spielberg talked about that very matter. (Via Collider): ‘I think we were pretty awesome in the ’80s,’ he says. ‘I hope the movie returns all of us to the awesomeness of the ’80s… One of the reasons I decided to make the movie was that it brought me back to the ’80s and lets me do anything I want, except for with my own movies.’

Spielberg then says that in regards to his own work, he has ‘cut most of [his] movies’ from the film that were explicitly referenced in Ernest Cline’s book. But there are a few exceptions: ‘Except for the DeLorean and a couple of other things that I had something to do with. I cut a lot of my own references out of the ’80s… I was very happy to see there was enough without me that made the ’80s a great time to grow up.’

Of course, the DeLorean would be a reference to Back to the Future, which Spielberg didn’t direct, but produced. We’re wondering if any Spielberg-directed material like E.T. or Indiana Jones – pop culture behemoths even today – will pop up through the cracks.

Ready Player One is released March 30, 2018.