Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures have targeted a Dec. 15, 2017, release for "Ready Player One," the sci-fi adventure from Steven Spielberg.

An adaptation of Ernest Cline's 2011 dystopian novel, it centers on Wade Watts, a teenager who plugs into a virtual world called OASIS. When the game’s creator dies, Wade is swept up in a treasure hunt to acquire the designer’s fortune.

Zak Penn wrote the most recent draft of the film, which has been in the works at Warner Bros. for five years. Spielberg signed on in May to direct, following his adaptation of the Roald Dahl book "The BFG."

It will be the filmmaker's first Warner Bros. movie since 2001's "A.I."

(via The Hollywood Reporter)