Update: WB have confirmed Spielberg will direct the film and they’ve set a December 15th, 2017 release.
After Christopher Nolan took over a former Steven Spielberg project with Interstellar, is the director getting a bit of revenge? While things barely went anywhere after Nolan was reportedly offered Ready Player One, Spielberg has now picked up the project to direct himself, according to Deadline. Described as Willy Wonka, The Matrix and Avatar all rolled up in one film, it’s a feature adaptation of the young-adult sci-fi novel from Ernie Cline, the writer of Fanboys, and would mark the director’s first sci-fi film in over a decade.
Spielberg is certainly keeping himself busy, having wrapped Bridge of Spies for a release this fall and embarking just this week on production of The BFG, which arrives in the summer of 2016. It’s said this long-gestating feature set up at Warner Bros. will be his next after The BFG, but considering the sheer amount of projects he piles up, we’re not holding our breath. As we await to see if Spielberg will actually follow through, check out the synopsis below, and revisit one of his masterpieces with a new video essay analyzation of one of the most iconic scenes from Jaws:
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 who will do anything, in the oasis or the real world, to reach the treasure first. Think Willy Wonka, The Matrix, and Avatar all rolled into one.
Would you like to see Spielberg direct Ready Player One?