Ready Player One Release Date Moves to 2018

Gamer-slash-literary types, hold onto your britches, because Player One is not going to be ready in time.

Episode VIII shifting to December 15, 2017, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One has now moved its debut off that date and will be hitting theaters about three months later, Warner Bros. announced Tuesday. While we saw the likes of Daddys Home and The Revenant do reasonably well against Star Wars: The Force Awakens in bits of counterprogramming, others like Sisters, Point Break, and the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie were buried beneath the Star Wars onslaught.

The studio also bumped up an as-yet-unrevealed DC Comics film – reported to be The Flash – by a single week to March 16th, 2017. The movie is being directed by Steven Spielberg, and distributed by Warner Bros.

Earlier today, Warner Bros. showed considerable resolve in plopping down its upcoming character drama Collateral Beauty, starring Will Smith, on the same opening weekend as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story later this year. The protagonist has not yet been cast, while the female lead, Art3mis, will be played by Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’s Olivia Cooke. When the eccentric billionaire who created the OASIS dies, he offers up his vast fortune as the prize in an elaborate treasure hunt.

Additionally Warners said it will release an untitled Event Film on March 2, 2018 as well as a New Line tentpole on April 20, 2018.

Spielberg’s next film is The BFG, which opens on July 1.