Warner Bros. Orders Rewrites for Sci-Fi Adaptation READY PLAYER ONE

I was not familiar with Ernie Cline's sci-fi novel Ready Player One, but I am sold on the upcoming adaptation from Warner Bros. and De Line Pictures. The film is described as "a nostalgic cross between The Matrix and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," which sounds awesome. Variety reports that the project is moving forward, and that A Better Life scribe Eric Eason has been hired to rewrite the author's script.

The project started in 2010, when WB and producer Donald De Line beat out other studios for the feature rights to this hot book. De Line will be producing along with Cline's manager Dan Farah of Farah Films & Management, while Jesse Ehrman will oversee the project for WB.

The story sounds amazing. It follows "an avid gamer who prefers to log into an idyllic virtual world called Oasis in order to escape the his bleak life. When the creator of Oasis dies and offers his fortune as the prize in an elaborate treasure hunt, the teenage protag is forced to fend off rival players and sinister corporations who will stop at nothing -- in both the real and virtual worlds -- to win the grand prize." 

Eason should be a good fit for this project because he is known for character-driven stories, which will be perfect for this concept-driven film. He is known for writing and directing 2002's award-winning Manito. He also did the Brendan Fraser-starring Journey to the End of the Night. He recently has gained a lot of attention thanks to Demian Bichir's wonderful performance in A Better Life. On top of all this, he wrote Fanboys and knows a lot about the gaming culture.

This sounds like it will make a great film, and Eason sounds like a perfect fit to do the rewrites. What are your thoughts?

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