(CBR) Zak Penn is ready to jump into the immersive world of Ernest Cline”s “Ready Player One,” TheWrap reports.
Cline initially adapted the book, followed by Eric Eason (“A Better Life”), but now it”s time for Penn to take his pass. Cline and Penn worked together recently on a docu-series that tracked down and dug up the fabled Atari video game dump site.
The future-set story follows the adventures of Wade Watts, a teenager who plugs into a virtual world called OASIS. When the game”s creator dies, Wade gets swept up in a treasure hunt to acquire the designer”s fortune.
The film was picked up by Warner Bros. in 2010, ahead of the novel”s 2011 debut. Cline”s other novels, “Fanboys” and “Armada,” have been turned into a film and optioned, respectively.
Here”s the novel”s official description from publisher Random House:
In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he”s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade”s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world”s digital confines-puzzles that are based on their creator”s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade”s going to survive, he”ll have to win-and confront the real world he”s always been so desperate to escape.