Did you think Ready Player Two was dead? Apparently, that’s not the case. Screenwriter Zak Penn, who adapted Ernest Cline’s beloved Ready Player One in 2018 for Steven Spielberg, told The Direct that he’s currently working on the sequel. Updates have been few and far between since plans were first revealed in 2020.
Last we’d heard was from Spielberg himself, who said in 2024 that if he were to return for Ready Player Two, it would only be as a producer. Nothing has changed on that front, as far as I can tell. Spielberg directed the previous movie, a cool mix of video game graphics, live-action, and CG, to over $580M at the box office. Not Spielberg’s biggest hit, but he’d kill for those numbers today.
The film would be based on Cline’s novel, published in 2020. The story picks up after Wade Watts has gained control of the OASIS virtual reality system that has become an escape from a dystopian world. When a new discovery is made that could change the VR experience, Wade and his pals in the High 5 go on another adventure.
It’s unclear if stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg, Lena Waithe, Ben Mendelsohn, TJ Miller, and Mark Rylance would return. Almost certainly not Miller, who is still a Hollywood pariah.
Warner Bros. had planned a 2028 release for Ready Player Two, and if it can manage to get moving by next year, that’s still a possibility.
