Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct the film adaptation of the gaming-themed cult hit novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Warner Bros. bought the options to Ready Player One in 2010, one year before it was published by Random House. Screenwriter Zak Penn (X-Men: Last Stand, The Avengers) has been brought on to rework a script first drafted by Eric Eason (A Better Life).

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenager Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Spielberg is expected to begin work on "Ready Player One" after he's finished "The BFG".