Hey, do you like ’80s movies like The Last Starfighter and Back to the Future? Are you deeply nostalgic for the days of the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision? Then odds are you’re gonna like Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One. Warner Brothers liked it so much they purchased the film rights before the book was published by Random House back in 2011.
The Verge now reports that the studio has just signed on Zak Penn, a writer well known in nerd circles, to rewrite the current draft. Granted Penn co-wrote the screenplay for the unfortunate X-Men: The Last Stand, but as he once told me in an interview, he didn’t want to kill Cyclops. And he did write the early draft of The Avengers. He was also just recruited by Guillermo del Toro to script Pacific Rim 2. So I’m willing to give Penn the benefit of the doubt.
For those who’ve never heard of Ready Player One — the film version of which is still looking for a director — here’s how the book’s publisher describes it… “At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut — part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.”
And here’s the book’s trailer…
Have you read Ready Player One? Who would you have direct the film? Let us know in the comments below.
loved the book. they will f the movie up bigtime. its insanely tough to do RIGHT.
Best “pop-Culture/Sci-Fi” book…EVER!
I read the book and loved it so much! Then i went out and got the audio book because Wil Wheaton reads it. Such an amazing book!
Never heard of it til just now….and just bought it 🙂
Must…be…in…this…movie! I would seriously consider playing a sixer if it meant being on the set of this movie.
I LOVED this book !
Hollywood WILL muck this up. I want the movie but I have ABSOLUTELY NO confidence that they can make it happen, correctly. To much legal b.s. to allow for a good adaptation.
Also echoingthe Whedon vote but I feel like “Opie” could do this well. Even though I know it’s not his type of film.
“Opie”isRonHoward.FYI.I’mold.
@Leo Costa…Ernie has actually talked about this a little. The movie rights were I think (but I’m not positive) Warner Bros and so they’ve agreed to allow him to use any of their property in the adaptation. For example, they don’t own WarGames, which is pretty integral to the book, but they do own Better Off Dead, which Ernie hinted would be replacing it. So it shouldn’t be too difficult
Fantastic book, just hope Hollywood doesn’t screw it up. Can’t figure out why Earnest Cline didn’t just do the screenplay, he has done screenplays before.
Not to be crude, but i popped a half chub. Ready player one is one of my favorite books, so this better be damn good.
Too…many….copyrights….
Edgar Wright, easy…
This is an amazing book. I can’t wait to see the on-screen adaption.
You had me at The Last Starfighter… Or you would have if I hadn’t already read & loved Ready Player One. As for directors, Joss Whedon of course! Is there anything that man can’t do?
He can’t NOT kill lovable characters
He’s very GRR Martin that way.