Via Screenrant.com:

Steven Spielberg’s nostalgia-filled sci-fi epic Ready Player One is packed full of references to many of pop culture’s most iconic franchises, save for maybe the most well-known property of all time: Star Wars. Turns out, there’s a good reason for that, and it was entirely out of Spielberg’s control.

The film adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel of the same name follows Wade Watts on his journey to win ownership of the OASIS – a Matrix-like internet-based simulation that allows people to live out their wildest (usually TV and film-based) fantasies in virtual reality – has already inspired fans to pour through trailers and posters in search of easter eggs and references. Superman, Back to the Future, The Lost Boys, The Breakfast Club, and plenty more have all been referenced in the advertising campaign for Ready Player One so far. Cline’s 2011 novel included pop culture references woven into its dystopian tale, including nods to WarGames, Dune, Ghostbusters, and the band Rush, amongst many, many others.

Screen Rant attended the Ready Player One press conference, where Steven Spielberg revealed some of the properties that they couldn’t get the rights to, such as Star Wars. “We couldn’t get any Star Wars rights … They wouldn’t give up the Star Wars rights.” At that point, Ben Mendelsohn joked that Spielberg could’ve asked him for help getting the rights, since he starred in Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. “You could’ve called me on that one, Steve. I built the Death Star, I’m just saying.”

UPDATE: Spielberg has now clarified to Fandango that although Ready Player One doesn’t reference the modern Star Wars movies produced by Disney and Lucasfilm, it does include Easter Eggs for the older films in the series.

Click below to read the full article.