Simon Pegg in talks for Steven Spielberg's 'Ready Player One' - CNET

Whenever a highly anticipated movie based on a best-selling book is announced, the rumor mill starts spinning out of control speculating who will play what.

Director Steven Spielberg's upcoming film version of the dystopian novel "Ready Player One" is no different.

On Thursday, reports started circulating that "Star Trek" actor Simon Pegg is in talks to play character Ogden "Og" Morrow, the co-creator of the massive virtual online utopia called the Oasis, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"Ready Player One," based on Eest Cline's novel, takes place in 2044 and revolves around a teen named Wade Watts who stumbles upon an intriguing game where knowledge of obscure '80s pop culture references can save his life.

In February, Deadline reported that actor Tye Sheridan -- also slated to play Cyclops in "X-Men: Apocalypse" -- would play Wade in the upcoming film alongside Olivia Cooke ("The Quiet Ones"), who is listed on IMDb to play Samantha Evelyn Cook/Art3mis, and Ben Mendelsohn ("Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"), who will play Nolan Sorrento.

No word yet on who's in talks to play other characters from the book, like Wade's best friend Helen Harris, Oasis co-creator James Donovan Halliday, and players Daito and Shoto.

Some of the book's fans, myself included, would love to see "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actor Wil Wheaton be cast as himself as the vice-president of the OASIS -- especially since Wheaton narrated the audio book as well. Though in his blog, Wheaton already has a casting role in mind -- "I'm doing my best to call dibs on playing Halliday."

With filming slated to start soon, more cast announcements will hopefully be on the horizon.

Spielberg's "Ready Player One" will be distributed by Waer Bros. and is slated to hit theaters in March 2018.

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