Shortly after a successful opening at the box office for Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of Ernest Cline's READY PLAYER ONE, Universal has announced that Dan Mazeau will pen a draft of Cline's other New York Times best-selling novel, ARMADA. According to a report by Deadline Hollywood, Cline has already written an early draft of the screenplay, which he will remain a part of as Mazeau steps in to collaborate. The move by Universal will be recognized by many as a no-brainer, seeing as READY PLAYER ONE has already grossed upward of $186.4M in worldwide box office receipts, so far.
Just like READY PLAYER ONE, Armada is said to also be chock full of nostalgic goodness from '80s and '90s pop culture. The story focuses on a teen by the name of Zack Lightman, who learns that the space invaders-like videogame he’s been playing for quite some is actually real. Before long, Lightman is recruited for his talents by an international galactic army to defend Earth. Universal is said to have snagged the film rights to Cline's original novel just days after the author landed a seven-figure deal for the story's domestic and foreign publishing rights, back in 2012. It's now obvious that, with the success of READY PLAYER ONE, Universal is more than delighted to start pumping quarters into a cinematic adaptation of yet another installment of Cline's written work. As Mugatu would say, "It's that Ernest Cline, He's so hot right now."
In more novel-related news, it's been said that Cline has another book project that he's working on for Random House. The content of the story is being kept under lock and key at this time, though we suspect that fans will eat it up, as Cline has a knack for creating stories that feed the imaginations and memories of his dedicated fanbase.
Are you on board for more films to be adapted from Cline's work? Have you read Armada? Is it any good? In what ways does it differ from Ready Player One? For Cline's next project, would you like to see him continue to pull from the '80s and '90s for inspiration, or present something entirely new? Let us know in the comments section below.
READY PLAYER ONE is in theaters now.