If there were any lingering doubts that Steven Spielberg had indeed signed on to direct Ernest Cline‘s smash debut novel, consider those doubts smashed by a giant mech. Deadline has just announced that the Warner Bros. Ready Player One film adaptation will hit theaters December 15, 2017, and we absolutely cannot WAIT.

For those who have not yet read Cline’s inventive dystopian sci-fi novel, Ready Player One is set in the near future, where all of humanity spends their daily lives inside a virtual reality known as the OASIS. The virtual reality’s creator—late eccentric billionaire James Halliday—has left his entire fortune and control of the OASIS to the person who can follow all the Easter Eggs hidden throughout it, inspiring folks from all over the globe to learn about Halliday’s life and passions in order to solve the clue and become bajillionaires. The best part, is Halliday grew up in the 1980s, so all the egg hunters (known as “Gunters,” because sci-fi) must become obsessive pop culture fans to find the Easter Eggs. Our hero, Wade Watts, is a 17-year-old orphan from the wrong side of the tracks who miraculously finds the first Easter Egg, setting him on an insane course against the fellow Gunters, an evil corporation, and other dastardly forces.

The entire thing is chockablock with pop culture references to John Hughes, Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings, Dune, Ray Bradbury, Terry Pratchett, Ghostbusters, Heathers, Joss Whedon, and Joust…. just to name a few. It’s an incredible novel, and Steven Spielberg is an excellent choice to take on the lofty task of adapting it. (Although someone mentioned Edgar Wright to me as an option once and it is VERY hard to get that idea out of my head.)

Now comes the seemingly impossible task of casting Ready Player One‘s cast of characters. Who would be right to play Wade Watts? Or the enigmatic billionaire James Halliday? Let us know your picks in the comments below, and don’t miss Amy Ratcliffe’s full Nerdist Book Club discussion on Ready Player One if you’re reading it for the first time!

HT: Deadline

Featured Image courtesy of deviantArt // Artist: IlNedo