The news broke yesterday that Steven Spielberg is attached to direct Ready Player One, the 2011 bestselling novel from Ernest Cline. This was huge news for me, as I love this novel (so much so that I have already written about it A Love Letter to Ready Player One) and cannot wait for the film version. The novel is set in the future and centers on Wade Watts, an eighteen-year-old who would rather live as his alter-ego Parzival in the virtual reality of OASIS, hunting Easter eggs left by one of the founders, James Halliday. Halliday has left his fortune to the first person who can finish the quest involving 80’s pop culture references, leading to an epic adventure hinging on nostalgia for the era of his formative years.
So Meta
As an English literature nerd, I love the fact that it is so meta for Spielberg to direct this movie. Spielberg will be directing a movie based on a novel that references his previous movies. This is the best thing that could ever happen to a postmodernist English nerd that is in love with this story. Spielberg is listed as one of Halliday’s favorite directors, so Wade is familiar with all of his work. The Indiana Jones movies play a role in the novel, as Wade calls his notebook for recording all details that could be helpful in his hunt his “grail diary,” and there is even some criticism of the films: “Halliday once said that he preferred to pretend the other Indiana Jones films, from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull onward, didn’t exist. I tended to agree.” While I doubt that this criticism will play a role in the movie, it would be amazing to see how Spielberg would handle it, but I am sure he is probably already aware of the issues with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
However, the numerous pop culture references may be an issue for the film version. According to Deadline, Greg Silverman, from Warner Bros said, “I think what we have to do is drill down to the best version of the movie and then see who wants to be a part of what will surely be a great film. What we found with The Lego Movie is that when we went and talked to those having the rights, people got excited about being involved.” Hopefully with the prestige of a director like Spielberg, the rights from the various pop culture references will not be as hard too come by.
High Hopes
As a fan of the novel, I could not be more excited to have Spielberg, with his background and immense influence, directing the film version because it gives me high hopes for the film version. The latest version of the script was written by Zac Penn, who has previously worked on comic book adaptations for the big screen such as The Avengers and X-Men. Being a huge fan of the novel, I am excited for the film version, but also filled with trepidation. Books almost always seem to be better than the movie versions because so much has to be condensed and cut in order to fit time and structure constraints. So, like with most novels that I love that are being adapted into films, I have been trying to keep my hopes high, and the news of Spielberg directing has definitely helped.