Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. News

Steven Spielberg to helm sci-fi adventure <em>Ready Player One</em>

Rick Marshall
By

Image used with permission by copyright holder
The upcoming adaptation of Ernie Cline’s hit novel Ready Player One was already a much-anticipated project, but the announcement of the film’s new director may have propelled it to rock star status. The big-screen spin on the international bestselling sci-fi adventure with a Matrix-style twist will be directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

Warner Bros. announced Spielberg’s attachment to the project this week, and indicated that the celebrated filmmaker will both direct and produce the film from an adapted screenplay penned by The Avengers and X2: X-Men United screenwriter Zak Penn.

Recommended Videos

Cline’s debut novel, Ready Player One was praised by critics and readers alike for its compelling sci-fi mystery steeped in pop-culture nostalgia. The novel famously sparked a bidding war among studios before it was even published in 2011.

The synopsis for the story reads as follows:

Related

In the near future, outcast teenager Wade Watts escapes from his bleak surroundings by logging in to the OASIS, a globally networked virtual utopia where users can lead idyllic alternate lives. When the eccentric billionaire who created the OASIS dies, he offers up his vast fortune as the prize in an elaborate treasure hunt. Along with gamers from around the world, Wade joins the adventure, and quickly finds himself pitted against powerful corporate foes and other ruthless competitors who will do anything, in the oasis or the real world, to reach the treasure first.

Spielberg is expected to begin work on Ready Player One after he’s finished with the upcoming thriller Bridge of Spies and his adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel The BFG.

“We are thrilled to welcome Steven back to Warner Bros,” said WB’s President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Greg Silverman, in a statement accompanying the announcement. “We had an historic series of collaborations in the ’80s and ’90s and have wanted to bring him back for years. As for Ready Player One, we have always felt that Steven was the dream director for this project.”

There’s currently no release date set for the film.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Rick Marshall
Rick Marshall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
3 sci-fi movies on Hulu you need to watch in September
Kaitlyn Dever in No One Will Save You.

It's become apparent recently that sci-fi movies are not always a priority for many of the streaming services. Thankfully, Hulu has a loaded lineup of films for science fiction lovers, including three new additions this month. These are the movies that allow us to step outside of our present and enjoy concepts and technology far beyond our reality. If there's a common theme with this month's sci-fi movies on Hulu, then it's dystopian futures ... including some futures that may be closer than we'd like.

Below, you can find our picks for the three sci-fi movies on Hulu that you need to watch in September. And rest assured, Hulu is also going to have more science fiction delights when October rolls around.
Ready Player One (2018)

Read more
10 best classic sci-fi movies
An astronaut walking down a corridor in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Science fiction is among the most acclaimed cinematic genres. Since the medium's dawn, sci-fi has provided numerous films meant to challenge and push the boundaries of what's known and, in many cases, believed. From ambitious, thought-provoking Oscar-winning sci-fi movies to more mainstream, yet no less impressive projects, the genre is a reliable bet that constantly redefines what's possible.

Although some might think of science fiction as a "modern" genre, the truth is that it has been around since the medium's inception. Indeed, many of the greatest sci-fi films came out in the late 1930s and '40s, continuing all the way to the '60s and '70s. These movies laid the basis for the genre, inspiring writers, directors, and writers for decades to come, and redefining what the oft-used word "groundbreaking" truly means.
10. Forbidden Planet (1956)

Read more
10 best sci-fi movies of the 1980s, ranked
Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future.

The 1980s was a pretty stellar time for cinema, and this is especially true for science-fiction films. Some of the most iconic movie franchises of all time were born from the sci-fi hits released in that decade.

From wild, action-packed adventures to frightening cosmic horror to profound philosophical studies, the genre of Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein made fantastic cinematic strides that ignited audiences' imaginations. Since TV and film continue to invoke people's nostalgia for this bygone era, it's only fair to take a look at the sci-fi films that made the '80s a special time for countless people.
10. RoboCop (1987)

Read more