We told you last week that Warner Bros. asked Christopher Nolan if he was interested in Ernest Cline’s soppy love letter to ’70s/’80s pop culture Ready Player One. Their wish list has leaked, however, and it reads like a laundry list of beloved nerd directors.
According to AICN, the director WB wants the most is none other than Robert Zemeckis, which is arguably the best possible choice; it’s very much an ’80s fantasy, and Zemeckis is a master of those. But if he passes, Warners wants Peter Jackson, Edgar Wright, or Matthew Vaughn to take the wheel.
Vaughn is, I think, unlikely; the man’s nerdery is less about video games and D&D and more about James Bond. This is the guy who essentially made an entire movie about how he wishes the Bond franchise was sillier and more over the top, after all. Similarly, one can’t help but think that Wright has said everything he wants to say about video games and man-children with Scott Pilgrim, and every studio is chasing him to launch a franchise anyway.
That leaves Zemeckis and Jackson. Zemeckis would actually be a good choice; honestly, Ready Player One is a book that could use his black humor and bitter perspective on the world. That said, he seems largely done with fantasy and SF. Similarly, Jackson certainly has the warmth the story would need, and the technical chops to pull off stunts like remaking WarGames shot for shot… but he’s just finished up another huge movie, and supposedly he’s on the clock for the third Tintin.
Honestly, if I had to guess, I’d say that none of these guys get the job and instead it’ll go to somebody a little less well-known but with some chops, a Joe Cornish or a Neil Marshall, for example. But, either way, one suspects that Warners sees this as their next Harry Potter, so expect to hear more about it as it comes together.
