Ernest Cline | |
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 Cline at the 2024National Book Festival | |
| Born | Ernest Christy Cline (1972-03-29)March 29, 1972 (age 53) Ashland, Ohio, U.S.[1] |
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Ernest Christy Cline (born March 29, 1972) is an Americanscience fiction novelist,slam poet and screenwriter. He wrote the novelsReady Player One,Armada andReady Player Two, and co-wrote the screenplay for thefilm adaptation ofReady Player One, directed bySteven Spielberg.
Cline was born and raised inAshland, Ohio, the son of Ernest Cline and Faye Imogene Cline.[2][3] As a youth in the 1970s and 1980s, Cline was "addicted to video games and movies," especiallyStar Wars, the movies ofJohn Hughes, and the tabletop roleplaying gameDungeons & Dragons. He worked ininformation technology in his twenties and worked on screenwriting during his spare time.[2]
Cline co-wrote the screenplay forFanboys, based on a story he had developed in the late 1990s while his mother was dying of cancer. Cline shot some low-budget scenes himself and shared his screenplay draft withHarry Knowles, whose connections in the film industry helped Cline get the film produced. The final film was co-written byAdam F. Goldberg and directed byKyle Newman. It was finally released in 2009 after reshoots, re-edits, and delays. Cline later recalled that the film "changed my whole life.Fanboys is my first real original screenplay, and it got made."[4]
From 1997 to 2001, Cline performed his original work atAustin Poetry Slam venues. He was the Austin Poetry Slam Champ in 1998 and 2001. Cline also competed on the Austin Poetry Slam Teams at the 1998 AustinNational Poetry Slam and the 2001 Seattle National Poetry Slam.[5][6] His most popular spoken-word pieces include "Dance, Monkeys, Dance," "Nerd Porn Auteur," and "When I Was a Kid."[7][8] Cline subsequently reworked "Dance Monkeys Dance" into a faux educational filmstrip, which became a popular viral video that has now been translated into 29 different languages.[9]
In 2001, Cline self-published achapbook collection of his spoken-word writing,The Importance of Being Ernest, and released an album,The Geek Wants Out. In the fall of 2013,Write Bloody Publishing published a new edition ofThe Importance of Being Ernest with new cover art by Gary Musgrave and new interior illustrations byLen Peralta.[citation needed]
In June 2010, Cline sold his first novel,Ready Player One, a book that takes place in a dystopian 2040s. The book was sold in a bidding war to theCrown Publishing Group (a division ofRandom House).[10] The film rights to the novel were sold the following day, toWarner Bros., with Cline co-writing the screenplay.[11] Ten months later, with the hardcover release coinciding with the paperback release, Cline revealed on his blog that both the paperback and hardcover editions ofReady Player One contain an elaborately hidden Easter egg. This clue formed the first part of a series of staged video gaming tests, similar to the plot of the novel. Cline also revealed that the competition's grand prize would be a 1981DeLorean. The prize was awarded in 2012.[12] The paperback is currently in its 17th printing.
Cline's second novel,Armada, was released on July 14, 2015, byCrown Publishing Group.[13] In December 2015 the film rights toArmada were sold to Universal Pictures for a seven-figure sum.[14]
His third novel,Ready Player Two was announced in August 2015 and released on November 24, 2020 as a sequel toReady Player One.[15][16] As of 2020, a film adaptation of the novel was in early development.[17]
His fourth novel,Bridge to Bat City was announced in June 2023 and release byLittle, Brown and Company on April 9, 2024.[18][19] It is Cline's first children’s novel, described as a “'mostly true tall tale' about a recently orphaned young girl named Opal B Flats, who forms an unexpected friendship with a music-loving colony of bats and helps them find a new home against all odds."[18]
In January 2024, it was announced that Cline has partnered with tech company Futureverse Studios to launch the Readyverse, “a multi-world, multi-IP, interoperable open metaverse experience for mass consumers.”[20] Readyverse will feature licensed digital props and other intellectual property from directorSteven Spielberg’sReady Player One through a deal with distributor Warner Bros. Readyverse also holds the rights to Cline’s other novels (includingReady Player Two) as well as his future works.[21]
From 2003 to 2013, Cline was married to authorSusan Somers-Willett, with whom he has one daughter.[22][23]
In 2016, he married poet/nonfiction writerCristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, whom he met at the 1998National Poetry Slam and began dating in 2013.[3] They have one daughter.[24]
Cline's all-time favorite video game is the arcade classicBlack Tiger,[25] which features prominently in the plot ofReady Player One.
Ready Player One series:
Standalone:
