Steven Spielberg finds Ready Player One lead in Tye Sheridan

He'll take the lead in Spielberg's adaptation of the cult futuristic novel by Ernest Cline

Tye Sheridan; it's time to get very used to hearing that name.

He's landed one of Hollywood's most coveted roles for a young actor, short of the prized Han Solo gig. Sheridan will take the lead in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ready Player One, Deadline reports, starring opposite Ben Mendelsohn and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl's Olivia Cooke.

Sheridan's been on the one-to-watch list ever since his debut in Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, followed-up with a stellar role opposite Matthew McConaughey in Jeff Nichols' Mud.

Though a lead in a Steve Spielberg production is a formidable land for Sheridan, it won't mark his first transition into big-budgeted studio fare; he also appears in this year's X-Men: Apocalypse as the younger version of Cyclops.

Based on the cult novel by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One essentially imagines a futuristic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; where players battle across the virtual utopia OASIS, riddled with puzzles based on its creator's obsession with pop culture, to discover the hidden Easter Egg which will grant them control of the digital world and the vast fortunes of its owner.

Ready Player One is set for a US release date on 30 March 2018.