‘Ready Player One’ may not have been a massive sensation when it opened in March, but it was a solid hit, earning $528 million during its theatrical run. The film adapted Ernest Cline‘s bestselling novel… the whole thing. While Cline is working on a sequel, it isn’t complete and it’s not clear when it might be. But there is a chance that Warner Brothers could move forward with another film independent of Cline’s plans. If so, Olivia Cooke will be obligated to reprise her role as “gunter” Samantha Cooke a.k.a. Art3mis.
During an interview with Digital Spy, Cooke admitted:
“I’ve signed my life away, so I’m contracted to sequels but I don’t know [if they’re happening]. I haven’t heard anything. We’ll see.
“I don’t think there’s a ‘Ready Player Two’ book, I don’t know if they’d want to write that first?”
Cooke is busy promoting her upcoming period romance ‘Vanity Fair’, a seven-part miniseries based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel, which will air on ITV in Great Britain. From the sound of things, Cooke doesn’t seem keen to return to Cline and Steven Spielberg‘s pop culture-riddled virtual fantasy world. Perhaps period dramas are more her thing. She certainly wouldn’t be the first actor to realize that big budget CGI spectacles aren’t for her.
It may be moot, however. If Cline’s sequel book isn’t released in the next year or so, a film follow-up might have to be recast if Cooke and her costars including Tye Sheridan, Win Morisaki, and Philip Zhao age out of their roles. (Provided the sequel picks up where the first book left off.)
Regarding the next novel, Cline said “I can’t talk about it too much, but there’s no better inspiration for a writer [than] to return to a world they’ve already worked on when they’re watching Steven Spielberg bring that world to life.”
Are you looking forward to another cinematic trip to the OASIS? Should Warner Brothers develop their own story or wait for Cline to finish his book? Would you be sad if Cooke doesn’t reprise her role as Samantha?
