While it might be a bit of a casual confirmation, a Ready Player One sequel is coming – just don’t expect Steven Spielberg at the helm.
It shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise that Ready Player One is getting a sequel, seeing as it made a boatload of money at the box office, and now Spielberg himself has confirmed that one is in fact in the works. Speaking to Showbiz411 after the Oscars, when asked about what’s next for the longtime director, he said “We’re in the discovery phase, trying to figure out what’s next.” Spielberg was specifically asked about a Ready Player One sequel as well, but he said he’ll just be producing this time around, also confirming that it is on the way.
It’s not the first time we’ve heard about a sequel – original author of the book Ernest Cline told Inverse in 2020 that one is “in the early stages right now, especially since Hollywood is in limbo right now,” referencing the pandemic which had shut down the film industry. Presumably the film will adapt the 2020 novel Ready Player Two, also written by Cline, which again follows protagonist Wade Watts as he once again goes on the hunt for a new mysterious prize. And who said Ready Player One didn’t have any kind of originality?
