Steven Spielberg, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who is behind many iconic movies, will direct and produce a new movie for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow based on the sci-fi novel written by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One.
The story is set in a world of advanced virtual reality known as the Oasis, where a teenager finds himself in a treasure hunt competing with ruthless foes after the founder of the game died and offered his fortune as the grand prize.
Gamers would have to solve a series of puzzles that are based on the game creator's obsession with late-20th-century pop culture. The novel has been described to be a cross between the Willie Wonka story and The Matrix.
Zak Penn, who worked on X-Men: The Last Stand and Pacific Rim 2, wrote the script for the novel's movie adaptation. The movie will be produced by Spielberg, along with Dan Farah, Donald De Line and Kristie Macosko Krieger.
Ready Player One would be Spielberg's first film with Warner Bros. in 14 years, with the last picture he directed being A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001. He also directed the Empire of the Sun in 1987 and The Color Purple in 1985. In the mid 1980s, Spielberg also produced Gremlins and The Goonies.
Warner Bros. Pictures Creative Development and Worldwide Production president Greg Silverman said that the studio has always felt that Spielberg would be the dream director for the project.
"We are thrilled to welcome Steven back to Warner Bros," Silverman said. "We had an historic series of collaborations in the 80s and 90s and have wanted to bring him back for years."
Silverman said that Warner always has an eye for groundbreaking visual effects and technology and that they are confident with any new ground that Spielberg would be interested in tackling.
"He's a master filmmaker, so we feel very comfortable with him. The story is the main thing, and whatever works best for audience enjoyment is what we'll do," Silverman said.
Ready Player One is a phenomenal book. The novel was on the best seller's list of The New York Times and was published in 40 countries. It has also been selected in "Best Of" lists by a number of news and pop culture websites.
The project was bought by Silverman for the studio and is being overseen by production executive Racheline Benveniste and SVP Production Jesse Ehrman.
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