Ready Player One has appeared on Netflix’s movie podium – and there’s an obvious reason why it’s climbed the chart.
Cinema’s predictions of the future haven’t always come to fruition. After all, if Back to the Future Part II and Blade Runner were right, we’d be getting from A to B on personal hoverboards and flying cars.
However, sometimes the movies get it right: Metropolis came up with the idea of video calls nearly 100 years ago, 2001: A Space Odyssey featured tablets in the ’60s, and The Truman Show was an early forecast of how involving and invasive reality TV could become.
In Ready Player One, the world is in tatters: the economy has collapsed, homelessness and unemployment are endemic in the US, and the only way people can escape misery is via the OASIS. Sound familiar?
Ready Player One hits Netflix chart after after Apple Vision Pro release
Ready Player One revolves around a virtual world that people access with a special headset… that looks pretty similar to the Apple Vision Pro, the tech giant’s newest “mixed reality” product.
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While OASIS headsets and the Vision Pro have different functions (one is the gateway to an immersive simulation, while the real-life kit allows its users to view multiple apps all around them as they navigate day-to-day life), Ready Player One’s sudden popularity can’t be a coincidence.
“Am I tripping but did Netflix just add Ready Player One at the same time the Apple Vision dropped?” one user tweeted. “Netflix dropping Ready Player One simultaneously while Apple drops those goggles is hilarious,” another wrote.
“Netflix pushing Ready Player One on the Home Screen while Apple Vision Pro is having a moment is so smart. Even crazier it just became available on Netflix on Feb 3, aligning almost perfectly with Apple’s launch. They knew what they were doing licensing this title for right now while the hype cycle is around VR/AR/wearables. Subtle, but another reason why Netflix is the best at what they do,” a third posted.
“Whoever at Netflix decided to put Ready Player One on right after the Apple Vision came out is a genius,” a fourth wrote. “Apple Vision Pro coming out and Ready Player One coming to Netflix at the same time is genius,” a fifth tweeted.
