Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Steven Spielberg is returning to the SF genre with his new movie, Ready Player One, based on the novel by Ernest Cline.

According to the report at Deadline, Spielberg will be returning to Warner Bros. for the project, which he is expected to shoot after completing work on The BFG.  “We are thrilled to welcome Steven back to Warner Bros,” Greg Silverman, the studio’s President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production said. “We had an historic series of collaborations in the 1980s and 1990s and have wanted to bring him back for years.” His last movie for the studio was 2001’s AI.

The book was published in 2011 and contains multiple references to pop culture icons, which could present copyright problems for the film makers (although similar issues were dealt with for The LEGO Movie). It follows a virtual-reality game creator who offers up his entire company to the best player who can find an Easter egg in one of his many virtual worlds via a game called OASIS. A teenager named Wade Watts decides to take it on after millions have failed over many years, finding the answer via the pop culture elements.

Cline worked on an adaptation himself of the book, which has now been reworked by Zak Penn.