Warner Bros. Pictures has secured the film rights to Playground, the AI-themed novel by Richard Powers, with Timothée Chalamet attached to produce and potentially star.
According to Deadline, the project is being developed with Plan B Entertainment, with Chalamet and Brian Swardstrom producing. While still early, Chalamet has the first option to lead the film. The novel follows Todd Keane and his friends from their university days into the heart of Silicon Valley’s tech boom, exploring friendship, ambition and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
Timothée Chalamet is coming off a high-profile loss at this year’s Academy Awards with Marty Supreme, but there’s no sign of him slowing down. With a new Dune trailer landing this week and now Playground in development, he’s clearly doubling down on ambitious, story-driven projects.
This project feels familiar in the right way. An AI story rooted in friendship, ego and power struggles naturally draws comparisons to The Social Network – David Fincher’s sharp, character-driven look at the rise of Facebook. Playground has the potential to sit in that same space, where human relationships and technological ambition collide.
For Plan B, it continues a strong run following recent successes with F1 and Adolescence, while Powers’ source material brings serious literary weight. He is a Pulitzer Prize winner and has been nominated for the Booker Prize more times than any other living author.
It’s early days. But with the subject matter, the talent involved, and Chalamet’s current momentum, this is already shaping up to be one of the more intriguing Hollywood projects in development.
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