Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated feature film adaptation of Ready Player One is to shoot in the UK, with a summer shoot currently on the cards.

The director, who is just finishing off work on The BFG, will helm the production and joins a team comprising Donald De Line, Dan Farah and Kristie Macosko Krieger. It is very early days, with active pre-production not yet underway.

The film is an adaptation of the award-winning sci-fi dystopian novel by Ernest Cline. Set in 2045, the book centres on teenager Wade Watts and his devotion to a virtual utopia known as the OASIS, which contains thousands of different worlds.

Among the puzzles – which revolve around the creator’s fixation with past pop culture – and set within the virtual universe, is a vastly complex treasure hunt to find an egg. This search takes Watts on a dangerous and possibly deadly path as he sets out to win the power and wealth promised to the victor.

PI subscribers should follow the project as we hope to update with crucial hires and specific dates over the coming months; the studio is already listed on Production Intelligence.

Non-subscribers can click here for a demo.

Photo via Andrewburton/Getty Images Ent.