Steven Spielberg Ready to Direct ‘Ready Player One’

Steven Spielberg’s list of upcoming projects is growing, and this self-professed number one fan is not sad about it.

His next project, after directing “The BFG”, adapted from Roald Dahl’s book, appears to be the Warner Bros. film adaptation of “Ready Player One.” Based on Ernest Cline’s book, “Ready Player One” takes place in the year 2044. Teenager Wade Watts’ life revolves around the virtual world OASIS, and he finds himself in a search of a prize that could mean life or death.

“Ready Player One” marks the first time since 2001’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence that Spielberg has partnered with Warner Bros. And while “A.I.” hasn’t always received the lavish praise many other of his films have, it was a stunning visual masterpiece whose effects still hold up, in my opinion. And no doubt “Ready Player One” will require a deft hand accustomed to groundbreaking visual effects. And who better than Steven Spielberg, who brought dinosaurs to life? 

From Deadline: “We are thrilled to welcome Steven back to Warner Bros,” said Greg Silverman, the studio’s President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production. “We had an historic series of collaborations in the 1980s and 1990s and have wanted to bring him back for years.”

If there’s any concern about this announcement, it should be that Zak Penn has penned (that was just begging for a pun) the script. A glance at his IMDB page reveals he worked on “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Elektra,” and . . . “The Last Action Hero.” Films not praised for . . .  much of anything. But he also worked on the story for “The Avengers,” so that’s one in the plus column.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with this project, because before he can even focus on it, Spielberg has “Bridge of Spies” starring Tom Hanks slated for release in October of this year and “The BFG” in 2016.