It’s hard enough to believe that Steven Spielberg is attached to direct the adaptation of Ernie Cline’s READY PLAYER ONE, but it’s even harder to believe that it’s actually looking like it’s happening pretty soon.
WB announced today that the film will be released on December 15th, 2017. If they stick with that, let’s hope it makes its bones fast; that date puts it about a week and a half ahead of AVATAR 2, which, if the last one was any indication, will Pac-Man everything else at the multiplex like Smints.
Spielberg’s had iffy luck with December release dates, and for every SCHINDLER’S LIST and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, you got a whole bunch of domestic unearners like ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, AMISTAD, HOOK, and ALWAYS. Going for that Christmas/Oscar season has bit him in the ass more times than not, and he's had much more luck playing to summer crowds, including with those first three megablockbusters, JAWS, RAIDERS, and E.T..
But this film’s appeal obviously goes further than Spielberg’s participation (for once), which makes it even more exciting. It’s interesting that this is being heralded as his return to “blockbuster filmmaking,” like anyone gave a shit when he went back to the world of rip-roaring, straight-out-of-pulp adventures with TINTIN. As we saw with PIXELS, there is definitely a market for this type of movie, but hopefully with Spielberg taking on this source material, it’ll have both the street cred and the mainstream appeal to hit all four quadrants when it drops next December.
Or at least we can always say “The book was better.”
READY PLAYER ONE on December 16th, 2017.
