Spielberg’s Ready Player One’s Sequel Update Is A Huge Relief (But Doesn’t Solve The Biggest Problem)

While some new updates surrounding Steven Spielberg’s involvement with the Ready Player One sequel make the film more exciting, they do not solve its biggest problem. Set in a dystopian future, Ready Player One ambitiously explores virtual reality through the eyes of a teenager named Wade Watts. Although, like most book adaptations, Ready Player One takes some creative liberties, it accurately adapts the core themes, story elements, and character beats of the original novel.

Owing to this, it is not surprising that the film mostly received positive reviews from viewers and critics and even earned $607.9 million at the global box office. What is surprising, however, is that its sequel has taken so long to develop. Thankfully, the flywheels of its development are still in motion, and some new promising updates also provide new insight into Steven Spielberg’s role in the project.

Steven Spielberg’s Involvement In The Ready Player One Sequel Is A Major Relief

Ready Player One‘s author, Ernest Cline, who had also written the screenplay for the film adaptation, had hinted after the film’s release that Warner Bros. would want to make a second movie if the first one succeeds. However, despite giving optimistic updates about the sequel’s future, Cline had also revealed (via Collider) that since Ready Player One was Steven Spielberg’s third-hardest film to make, he did not know if he would want to be involved with Ready Player Two. In December 2020, the author also confirmed that a sequel was in development, but Spielberg’s involvement was still uncertain.

Fortunately, Steven Spielberg has now confirmed that he will be involved with Ready Player Two as its producer. This is great news because, even though many factors contributed to the first film’s success, it was Spielberg’s directorial vision and experience that ultimately made it a worthy adaptation of Ernest Cline’s work. The director’s ability to seamlessly merge pop-culture references to The Shining, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, The Iron Giant, and several other movies with Ready Player One‘s immersive VR world is a testament to his understanding of the sci-fi genre, making his involvement crucial for the sequel’s success.

Ready Player Two’s Producer Update Doesn’t Solve Its Biggest Problem

Although Steven Spielberg’s involvement with Ready Player Two increases its odds of replicating its predecessor’s success, the sequel movie faces another big challenge: the original book received widely negative critical ratings. While Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One was unanimously labeled as a captivating page-turner, Ready Player Two, in comparison, was called a pale and forced sequel. Owing to this, even though Steven Spielberg is now involved in the sequel project as its producer, Ready Player Two must still overcome the pitfalls of its source material to be as good as Ready Player One, if not better.