Steven Spielberg is gearing up to shoot Ready Player One, the long-awaited adaptation of Ernest Cline’s sci-fi novel, for a 2017 release date. Warner Bros., Dreamworks and Village Roadshow will produce the film, as written by Zak Penn.
Cline’s book is a detailed homage to ’80s popular culture, framed through a virtual reality gaming portal called OASIS. Set in a futuristic America that’s so run down people retreat within the simulation for sanctuary, the plot follows Wade Watts, a dedicated retro geek and gamer. His addiction to OASIS becomes more valuable when its creator, James Halliday, dies and leaves a series of puzzles and riddles encoded within the system.
What’s deemed most troublesome about the adaptation is the nature of those riddles – they’re all interwoven with real world pop culture icons from the ’70s and ’80s. If Spielberg’s going to do the book justice, he’s going to have to grease a few wheels to secure the rights to any relevant properties owned by other studios.
Ready Player One opens on December 15, 2017.
For more great film and TV news, head to our movie channel or subscribe to SFX (opens in new tab).