Deadline reported this morning that Steven Spielberg has been signed on to direct Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One for the big screen.
Spielberg is expected to begin work on Player One following The BFG (another book to film adaptation). Spielberg’s involvement makes this his first film with Warner Bros in 14 years. Warner Bros has held onto the rights of Cline’s novel since 2010, before it was even published. The author of the book penned the first draft of the script and it’s now currently in the hands of Zak Penn (‘The Avengers’).
Simply put, Ready Player One presents a futuristic and digital world called the OASIS–a place where everyone lives their life in a video game. This digital world makes boat-loads of references to popular franchises including Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, Monty Python, and even Harry Potter at one point. Most notable are the references to 80’s pop culture, which has marked Cline’s novel as a cult favorite. The story follows Wade Watts, a young man who’s hoping to win a global competition within the OASIS.
7th Page reviewed Ready Player One last year. Click here to read what we had to say about it!
What does Spielberg mean for Ready Player One?
One of the major difficulties in producing this movie is the amount of references made to different franchises. Because of this alone, the film could potentially be extremely expensive. Interestingly enough, however, several of Spielberg’s works are mentioned in the book, including mega-franchise Indiana Jones. Could a name like Spielberg possibly be the power needed to secure the appearances of some of these larger franchises?
This movie is shaping up so well, it sounds too good to be true! We’re definitely excited to hear more about this one!
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