READY PLAYER TWO Movie Gets a Hopeful Update as Screenwriter Confirms Sequel Is Moving Forward
It looks like we might be getting the opportunity to log into the OASIS again. Fans have been wondering for years if Ready Player Two would ever make the jump from page to screen, and now there's finally a promising update.
While it's still early, the sequel has officially shown signs of life thanks to screenwriter Zak Penn, who confirmed that work is underway.
Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One hit theaters in March 2018 and delivered a massive pop culture adventure packed with video game, movie, and comic book references.
The film earned more than $607 million worldwide against a $175 million budget, making it a major box office success and leaving the door wide open for another adventure.
Despite that success, updates on a sequel have been few and far between. That's why Penn's recent comments are especially encouraging.
During an exclusive interview with The Direct, Penn was asked about the status of Ready Player Two, and his answer was short but exactly what fans wanted to hear: "I am working on it."
It isn't a huge reveal, but it's the first meaningful progress update fans have received in nearly two years. The last significant update came from Spielberg himself during an industry event, where he explained that if the sequel moves forward, he'd rather produce it than direct it.
While that means someone else would likely take over directing duties, Spielberg and Penn remain attached to adapt Ernest Cline's second novel. At this point, no casting announcements or additional creative team members have been revealed.
As for the story, the book follows Wade Watts after he uncovers a discovery hidden inside Halliday's vaults that could reshape the OASIS once again. The official synopsis reads:
“Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous—and addictive—than even Wade dreamed possible.
“With it comes a new riddle and an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival. Wade’s life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.”
If the movie follows the novel, fans can expect familiar faces to return, including Wade Owen Watts/Parzival, Samantha Evelyn Cook/Art3mis, Helen Harris/Aech, and Akihide Karatsu/Shoto. Those characters were memorably played by Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, and Philip Zhao in the first film.
Personally, I'm excited to see this project moving forward because I had an absolute blast with Spielberg's Ready Player One. I thought he took the source material and turned it into an incredibly fun, energetic sci-fi adventure that fully embraced the spirit of the OASIS while making smart changes that worked better for a movie.
That said, I had a very different reaction to Cline's Ready Player Two novel. I was excited to read it, but I ended up pretty disappointed with where the story went. A lot of the character choices didn't work for me, and I wasn't invested in the direction the sequel took. It just didn't capture the same sense of fun and adventure that made the first story so entertaining.
The good news is that movie adaptations don't have to follow every page of the source material. Spielberg's first film already proved that major changes can improve the overall experience, so I'm hopeful a Ready Player Two movie can reshape the story into something stronger.
There's a solid foundation there, and with Penn adapting the screenplay, it'll be interesting to see how much of the novel is reworked for the big screen.
For now, the sequel is still in development, but after years of waiting, it's great to finally know that work is actually happening.