The next Ernest Cline adaptation destined for a cinematic treatment is Armada, in which an elite UFO defense training program masquerades as a popular video game. A video game prepares our young hero for a new career as the pilot of an advanced aircraft in a decisive space conflict.
Sound familiar? It's the plot of 1984 sci-fi classic The Last Starfighter and, now, Ernest Cline's 2015 Armada.
In fact, The Last Starfighter, whose lead goes from trailer park nobody to universe-saving ace after being recruited by an interplanetary coalition, is referenced in Armada as part of a decades-long effort to prepare young minds for involvement in the Earth Defense Alliance. Zack Lightman is one of the world's best players of drone-fighting game Armada, but that's not helping him with high school troubles.
His father, now dead, theorized that various pop culture properties were somehow connected and it becomes apparent that Armada is, in secret, training a new generation of elite drone warfare pilots ahead of an expected alien invasion. Following the success of virtual reality adventure Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg and expected to cruise past $200m worldwide during its second weekend, Armada is the next announced adaptation of an Ernest Cline property.
Dan Mazeau, who wrote Wrath of the Titans, and has been on board for the pre-production phase of in-development projects Luna Park and Van Helsing, has been brought in by Universal Pictures for a new treatment of Armada in collaboration with Cline himself.
Given that the Armada movie is at a very early stage, there's no director or star attached, but it does have the backing of key producers Dylan Clark (Planet of the Apes) and Dan Farah (Ready Player One).
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