Steven Spielberg To Direct READY PLAYER ONE

Deadline dropped the news today that Village Roadshow and Warner Bros. have brought on Steven Spielberg to direct the upcoming adaptation of Ready Player One, the cult hit novel by Ernest Cline. The story revolves around a teenager who enters a virtual world and attempts to solve a decades old puzzle that promises fame and fortune involving pop culture references from the past.

The book involves many references to video game characters, so at this point it isn’t known if that will all be included in the film or if the screenwriters (Zak Penn wrote the latest version) will need to work around it, but my guess is if its Warner Bros. and Spielberg, they’ll be able to make it happen.

Here’s the synopsis from the book:

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.