Steven Spielberg’s Underrated Sci-Fi Hit Returns to Streaming Next Month

Steven Spielberg is known for multiple blockbusters and franchises. But among all his projects, one film he made is underrated by audiences but has grossed huge numbers at the box office. That movie is Ready Player One, released in 2018, and it has made the leap to streaming once again.

Ready Player One has been added to Netflix on November 1, 2025, as it was previously available to stream on HBO Max early this year. Based on the book of the same name by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts, aka Parzival, who partakes in an Easter Egg hunt in a virtual reality world called the OASIS. The Egg Hunt was created by the Oasis’ creator, James Halliday, who revealed that whoever won the hunt would inherit his fortune and full ownership of the popular virtual world.

Since its release, Ready Player One has been well received by fans and critics alike, earning a certified fresh critics’ score of 71% and an average audience score of 77%. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects, but lost to First Man. Alongside Sheridan, Ready Player One also stars Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon) as Samantha Cook / Art3mis, Lena Waithe (Westworld) as Helen Harris / Aech, T.J. Miller (How To Train Your Dragon) as i-R0k, Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning) as The Curator, Mark Rylance (Dunkirk) as James Halliday, and Ben Mendelsohn (Captain Marvel) as Nolan Sorrento.

Steven Spielberg Worked on ‘Ready Player One’ With One Condition

Ready Player One is filled with pop culture references from films to TV shows and existing video games, and it makes sense that some of the titles mentioned in the book were altered in the movie for licensing reasons. However, there was one change Spielberg made regarding the film’s pop culture knowledge: the number of references to films he had previously worked on.

It was reported back in 2017 that the famous film director didn’t want to be accused of “vanity,” despite knowing that his films play a key role in shaping the source material. Speilberg said in an interview that the film would have to reduce the number of references to projects he’s worked on, or they would need to find a different director. Despite agreeing to this, it was reported that Ready Player One‘s author, Cline, would have to convince the filmmaker to include particular items tied to his previous works, like the DeLorean from Back to the Future.

Ready Player One is now available on Netflix. Follow Collider to stay updated.