It looks like Steven Spielberg is really committed to directing the adaptation of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One — for better or worse. The iconic filmmaker is just now gearing up to head into production on the project, and while he doesn’t have much to offer at the moment, he has revealed a couple of things we should expect as well as at least one thing we shouldn’t.

In an interview with USA Today, Spielberg discussed Ready Player One, his adaptation of the pop culture, nostalgia-driven novel that imagines a future universe where players in an online arena known as Oasis are challenged by the ailing CEO to participate in a scavenger hunt. The top prize? Oasis itself. The book leans heavily on pop culture references (to a fault), including Steven Spielberg’s own films — which makes his decision to direct Ready Player One a little…strange.

Spielberg says it’s “very trippy” to be making a film based on a story he partially influenced, and added, “but I’m not making this movie to remind people of my ‘80s movies. I may leave most of them out!” The director also said he likes the story because it imagines how we’ll be entertained in the near future, and shared an anecdote about his kids and their friends being glued to their phones, highlighting the way technology has become our chief form of interaction even when we’re spending time with people.

This movie is going to show why it’s interesting not living in the real world but what we’re missing by not. It’s a cautionary tale but it’s also a big rockin’ adventure movie, too.

Ready Player One has cast Me and Earl and the Dying Girl star Olivia Cooke in one of the leading roles, and begins shooting next summer for a December 15, 2017 release.

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