Warner Bros lands AI-themed ‘Playground’ for Timothée Chalamet and Plan B

Timothée Chalamet to star in Warner Bros' adaptation of Richard Powers' AI novel 'Playground,' with Plan B producing

Warner Bros. Pictures has secured the film rights to Richard Powers’ acclaimed novel Playground, with Timothée Chalamet attached to star and produce.

The project marks a reunion between the studio and the Oscar-nominated actor, who is currently slated to appear in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Dune: Part Three. Chalamet will take first position to play the central role in the adaptation, which is being developed in partnership with Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company.

Playground, a New York Times bestseller and Booker Prize nominee, follows three friends from the University of Illinois as their lives intersect with the tech boom in Silicon Valley and a remote Polynesian island. The narrative explores themes of friendship, love, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

Powers is one of the most decorated authors in contemporary fiction, having won the Pulitzer Prize for The Overstory and received four Booker Prize nominations—more than any living writer. Plan B is separately developing another of his novels, Bewilderment, with Black Bear.

The deal positions Playground as a high-priority literary adaptation for the studio, combining Chalamet’s box-office draw with Plan B’s track record, which includes the Emmy-winning miniseries Adolescence and the Oscar-nominated F1.

Production will proceed once a screenplay is completed, with Chalamet and Plan B’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner serving as producers.