The appearance in Ready Player One of Star Wars easter eggs appeared to be in some doubt, but Steven Spielberg has put that rumour to rest. Listen to what the great man says at the 5 minute 50 mark where the issue of rights is discussed, and the use of some GFFA iconography mentioned.

“We didn’t want to use the main cultural icons from any of the Disney Star Wars films because those are ongoing. That’s really part of our contemporary world right now. And even though it began in the ’80s, it is so much a part of our real life today in the 21st century. So we asked for some of the smaller items, and Disney gave us everything we asked for.”

He confirmed the film will feature appearances from R2-D2 and an X-Wing.

This completely goes against Spielberg’s earlier comments a recent press conference at SXSW where he told journalists: “We couldn’t get any Star Wars rights. [We tried] very hard. They wouldn’t give up the Star Wars rights.“ It suggests that the filmmaker may have tried to include characters from the most recent films starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver.