With Interstellar a certifiable box office behemoth, having earned $544 million worldwide thus far, it’s safe to say that Christopher Nolan still has his magic touch. The acclaimed director has delivered some of the best movies of the decade, and now that he has an opening in his schedule, Warner Bros. is hoping to bring him back into the fold to helm another highly promising sci-fi title: Ready Player One.
Tracking Board reports that Warner Bros. has put out an official offer to Nolan and is waiting on a reply.
The pic will be set in 2044 and focus on a young boy who becomes embroiled in a high-stakes treasure hunt in an immersive virtual reality. As his knowledge of ’80s popular culture is put to the test, the boy realizes that the competition is more dangerous than he could have imagined. Eric Eason and Ernest Cline originally penned the script, adapting Cline’s bestselling YA novel, and X-Men: First Class scribe Zak Penn was subsequently brought on board to retool it.
Here’s the Amazon synopsis for 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.
It’s hard to imagine that Nolan, a director who traditionally explores his own ideas in film over those of others, would respond in the affirmative to the offer. However, it’s unclear how closely the adaptation will hew to Cline’s book – Penn recently revealed that he had to take “huge liberties” when rewriting the script to avoid licensing issues related to the many ’80s properties that play roles in Ready Player One. Maybe once the dust has settled on that script, Nolan will like what he finds enough to bite.
