
EXCLUSIVE: Steven Spielberg is set to direct Ready Player One, the highly anticipated project based on the popular sci-fi book by Ernest Cline that takes place in a virtual world. What a coup for Warner Bros, which will bring it to the screen along with Village Roadshow. This is expected to be Spielberg's next movie after The BFG.
Ready Player One also marks the director's return to Warner Bros after a 14-year absence. The last picture he directed there was A.I. Artificial Intelligence in 2001, which the grandmaster Stanley Kubrick had developed there. Before that, it was Empire Of The Sun (1987) and the critically acclaimed The Color Purple (1985). He also produced Gremlins and Goonies in the mid-1980s for the studio. 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.
Spielberg and his films are actually mentioned in the 2011 book. I also absorbed the complete filmographies of each of his favorite directors, says the main character Wade Watts at one point as he's studying the interests of digital utopia creator James Donovan Halliday. Cameron, Gilliam, Jackson, Fincher, Kubrick, Lucas, Spielberg, Del Toro, Tarantino. And of course Kevin Smith. There are also references to the Indiana Jones franchise, which Spielberg directed, and E.T. in the wide ranging cultural touchpoints of Ready Player One.
With this news, a question arises about how they will bring a key element of the book's virtual world to life for the big screen. After all, it seems imperative for the audience to feel like they were dropped into the middle of a video game.
That kind of technology is just becoming available, and if these guys implement that, this could change the face of cinema. The studio has been on the cutting edge of this kind of thing before, pushing the envelope with technology and visual effects with such films as The Lego Movie, Inception and The Matrix - all with great results. If anyone can pull it off again, it will be these guys.
First the story, then the possible rights issues and cinematic technology that are involved in bringing the story to the big screen: The book takes place in 2044 and follows the story of 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. The key to winning the game is a plethora of pop culture clues from the 1980s. Whomever figures it out and wins the game - without having their avatars killed in the process - takes over the entire OASIS empire.
Ready Player One was published by Random House Crown in 2011, however the studio acquired the rights to the film in 2010 for producers Donald De Line and Dan Farah, who brought the project into the studio. They will produce with Kristie Macosko Krieger. Warner Bros plunked down a high-six-figure deal, besting other suitors at the time. The book has become a phenomenon, published in 40 countries; it was on The New York Times best seller's list and was chosen best-of by numerous news and pop cultures websites around the globe. Silverman, who was President of Production at the time, bought the project for the studio. It is being overseen by SVP Production Jesse Ehrman and production executive Racheline Benveniste.
Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Avengers) wrote the latest script after taking over the duties from Cline and Eric Eason (A Better Life). Interestingly, Penn and Cline worked together on the video game documentary Atari: Game Over and have said to be collaborating on the Ready Player One script extremely well for some time.
Now, the rights issue: The book is loaded with references of popular culture rich in 1980s video game icons. How will the studio handle that? 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, Silverman told Deadline. 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. For that film, Warners already owned Batman but did not have rights to Star Wars. They were able to secure that for an animated version, however. And Lego already had a licensing deal with Star Wars.
Now the possible technology that could be used: How will they bring the virtual world to life? At Warners, we always have our eye on all the groundbreaking visual effects and technology available worldwide, and we feel very confidant with any new ground that Steven would want to tackle, said Silverman. He's a master filmmaker, so we feel very comfortable with him. The story is the main thing, and whatever works best for audience enjoyment is what we'll do.
Down in Hollywood, FL, one company's virtual-reality technology has gotten the attention of some big investors, including Google and Qualcomm. Magic Leap has promised to push cinematic reality by providing an experience beyond 3D; in fact, it is said to put 3D into the rearview mirror as far as technological advances because it fools the brain into believing that a 3D object is actually real. And it supposedly does it without making the viewers nauseated (key point).
Magic Leap has been designing virtual-world technology for some time and already is valued at $1 billion without even putting a product out. How so? Any potential investor it brings in goes apesh*t over what they see, though the company has kept most of what they are doing under wraps publicly.
Other companies are also said to be developing similar technology to shift reali
Most recent headlines
01/04/2025
USHER's London takeover is in full swing. After kicking off his sold-out run of shows at the O2 Arena to rave reviews, the R&B icon joined forces with Spoti...
01/04/2025
Innovative program empowers partners with growth, efficiency and collaboration
Herndon, Va., April 1, 2025 ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satelli...
01/04/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 1, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its first quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, Ap...
01/04/2025
Calrec Craft Interview: Aston Fearon, Sound Supervisor In this craft interview, Aston Fearon speaks to us about how his career in sound started, projects he'...
01/04/2025
MONT-SAINT-GUIBERT, Belgium Telestream has integrated intoPIX's JPEG XS technology into Telestream's PRISM waveform monitors, which Telestream says will...
01/04/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), to deliver a cloud-based production framework that helps f...
01/04/2025
LONDON and NEW YORK The United Football League (UFL) has signed a new global partnership with sports broadcaster DAZN to broadcast every game of the UFL's 2...
01/04/2025
In a groundbreaking bid to streamline and democratize the production process, Netflix has laid out how it is developing a new Media Production Suite, that t...
01/04/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast Business has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Nitel, a U.S. managed services provider headquartered in Chicago, from inte...
01/04/2025
NEW YORK A team of research industry veterans, led by Tod Johnson have launched a new consumer insights and analytics platform, Tenetic, that offers both local ...
01/04/2025
V-Nova, a leading provider of compression solutions, today announced its inaugural participation in a patent pool, joining the Access Advance HEVC Patent Pool. ...
01/04/2025
Cinnafilm, a global leader in video optimization solutions, today announced that it will launch Tachyon LIVE, its groundbreaking live IP standards and format co...
01/04/2025
HighField AI, an advanced AI-powered solution designed to automate repetitive tasks within the media production workflow, today announced that it will demonstra...
01/04/2025
Globecast has expanded its use of Net Insight's Nimbra technology by deploying Nimbra Edge, significantly streamlining its media transport operations. This ...
01/04/2025
EdgePeak enables software architects and developers to design and build their own content delivery network (CDN) while reducing streaming costs, fighting video...
01/04/2025
Cinnafilm to preview the innovation at the 2025 NAB Show
Cinnafilm, a global leader in video optimization, has collaborated with NVIDIA to unveil a groundbreak...
01/04/2025
Leading video software provider Synamedia, will showcase its innovation-driven approach to solving the biggest challenges facing customers today and in the futu...
01/04/2025
AJA Debuts IP and 12G-SDI Innovations Ahead of NAB 2025
Brie Clayton April 1, 2025
0 Comments
New tools optimize media and entertainment and proAV wo...
01/04/2025
Bit Part Introduces bitbox mini, the Smallest and Lightest Solution for Ultra-Lo...
01/04/2025
IABM Unveils Bold Transformation at NAB Show, Prioritizing Member Value
Brie Clayton April 1, 2025
0 Comments
IABM is delivering a strategic transform...
01/04/2025
OOONA Introduces Multilingual QC Tool for Subtitling Workflows
Brie Clayton April 1, 2025
0 Comments
See OOONA on booth W4209 at the NAB Show, Las Veg...
01/04/2025
Adopting open standards, the solution aims to provide workflow standardisation, allowing for automation and other innovations across a diverse range of markets
...
01/04/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: April 1, 2025
Submissions will be acc...
01/04/2025
The AI issue takes a look at how AI is reshaping broadcasting, including areas such as sports commentary and archiving and storage, plus we discover how Norways...
01/04/2025
Joining the company with more than two decades of experience forging and scaling alliances in the industry, Wastcoats role will support TVUs strategic developme...
01/04/2025
At the beginning of the year, Rich Welsh, senior vice president with Deluxe, was appointed the new president of Society of Motion Picture and Television Enginee...
01/04/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter's Spectrum pay TV operations are continuing its previously announced strategy of adding more streaming services to its ...
01/04/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair, Inc. and its subsidiary, ONE Media Technologies, have announced that members of their leadership team will be participating in multip...
01/04/2025
01 04 2025 - Media release Bus Stop Films' first feature Boss Cat to begin production in June
Boss Cat cast (L-R): Olivia Hargroder, Penny Downie and Juli...
01/04/2025
PremiumBeat - Flexible, Unlimited Music For Creators
Brie Clayton March 31, 2025
0 Comments
Back in November of 2024, PremiumBeat made a bold move tha...
01/04/2025
MLB 2025: TNT Sports Chooses Remote Production for MLB Tuesday,' Upgrades C...
01/04/2025
SVG All-Stars: Francisco Contreras, Executive Director, Field Operations, FOX Sp...
01/04/2025
MILTON drones get a boost with Rohde & Schwarz SIGINT integration Rohde & Schwarz and MILTON have partnered to integrate advanced signals intelligence technol...
01/04/2025
Rohde & Schwarz presents comprehensive R&S ELEKTRA portfolio for reproducible, s...
01/04/2025
Create Complex Compositions with Unlimited Layers with FOR-A MixBoard Powered by ClassX...
01/04/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Production Germany
Read the article
Digital Production Germany magazine editor, Bela Beier, recently talked to Nara's Steve Br...
01/04/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Media World
Read the article
Light Iron uses Nara to handle file navigation, content streaming and information sharing workflow ef...
01/04/2025
Article courtesy of British Cinematographer
Read the article
DoP Don Burgess, VFX supervisor Kevin Baillie and colourist Maxine Gervais pulled their talents t...
01/04/2025
Polesi ski made a name for himself early in his career. Renowned for his attention to detail and ability to mix his creative and technical skills, Polesi ski st...
01/04/2025
visionOS 2.4 is available today, bringing the first set of powerful Apple Intelligence features that help users communicate, write, and express themselves on Ap...
01/04/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and...
31/03/2025
Ready, set, Party Time!' SBS News empowers young voters with a new politica...
31/03/2025
31 January, 2024
Company News
Tokyo, January 31, 2024 - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501) today announced the following executive
changes to improve corporate value....
31/03/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 31, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has complete...
31/03/2025
Vice Admiral Jan Willem Hartman, commander of the Dutch Materiel and IT Command, and Chris Aebli, President, Tactical Communications, L3Harris Technologies, sig...
31/03/2025
The L3Harris team visited HMS GLASGOW, the first T26 Global Combat Ship, current...
31/03/2025
SEATTLE As the WNBA prepares to kick off the 2025 season, the Seattle Storm WNBA team has announced a multi-year deal with Sinclair's KOMO and KUNS station...
31/03/2025
Digital Nirvana, a provider of leading-edge AI-powered media solutions, today announced a global Alliance Partnership with Avid to bring advanced AI metadata c...
31/03/2025
BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast media industry, today announced that Kate Gazdic has joined the company as a senior procurement specialis...
31/03/2025
MainConcept, a leading provider of video and audio codecs, has announced a series of key codec advancements that enable customers to realize significant time an...