Michael Crichton's final novel, Pirate Latitudes, is set for publication in mid-November. Steven Spielberg has already read it, and is developing the movie version, with a script by David Koepp, according to an article in USA Today.
The novel was completed before Crichton's untimely death (unlike the also forthcoming and as-yet-untitled techno-thriller which will be finished by a ghostwriter) and features a pirate called Hunter plotting to steal treasure from a Spanish galleon, with the help of the governor of Jamaica.
Stacey Snider, the co-chair and CEO of Dreamworks, says "it's a mission movie, and we see it through the prism of what it might have been like to live on the island during that time," She also dismisses concerns that Pirate Latitudes might resemble a certain other pirate franchise with a fourth film in the works: "We would only pursue this if it was wonderful in its own way, and didn't interfere with their films."
"Without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film," she concludes. Which is, like, pretty funny, because Spielberg made Hook.
No scheduling or production decisions will be made until Koepp delivers the script, and as usual, we don't know yet if SS will direct or just produce. Koepp also adapted the first two Jurassic Park films from Crichton's novels, making this a reunion of sorts. "Michael and I have had almost two decades of solid collaborations," says Spielberg. "Whenever I made a film from a Michael Crichton book or screenplay, I knew I was in good hands. Michael felt the same, and we like to think he still does."