A sequel film to Ready Player One was first confirmed to be in development back in March 2024, but there's been little to no update on the project since that initial announcement.
Recently, The Direct caught up with writer Zak Penn at the red carpet premiere or Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, where he confirmed that he was still working on the script.
The first film was based on the best-selling book by Ernest Cline and directed by Steven Spielberg. It grossed $609.7M at the global box office in 2018.
Cline then released a sequel novel in 2020 with the specific goal of making a follow-up film.
Spielberg previously confirmed that the sequel is in development, but he reportedly won't return to the director's chair and will only produce the film.
Set in the year 2045, Ready Player One follows teenager Wade Watts as he uses the OASIS, a hyper-realistic VR world, to escape his bleak life.
Like millions of other users, Wade is obsessed with finding a hidden Easter egg left behind by the system's deceased creator. The reward? Unimaginable wealth and total control over the OASIS.
The only problem is IOI, a ruthless mega-corporation willing to eliminate the competition in both the virtual world and real life to take power for themselves.
In Ready Player Two, the story picks up immediately after Wade finds the Easter egg and gains control over OASIS. He finds the VR's creator has also left behind the OASIS Neural Interface (ONI), which dials up the sensory capabilities of the OASIS to 11, allowing people to taste, smell, and feel like never before.
This creates a rift between Wade and his friends, who think that releasing ONI to the public will cause most people to abandon the real world altogether.
Complicating matters further is the release of an evil, rogue facsimile AI of the OASIS inventor who prevents users from logging out of the system in a page straight out of the anime Sword Art Online. The ultimate threat is that use of the ONI is limited to 12 consecutive hours; otherwise, permanent brain damage can occur.
Lead actor Tye Sheridan (Wade Watts / Parzival) has publicly voiced his desire to return to the franchise. The rights for the film series currently remain with Warner Bros.