Steven Spielberg to Develop Crichton's Pirate Latitudes

Steven Spielberg is developing a film based on the novel Pirate Latitudes from the late author, Michael Crichton. They worked together when Spielberg adapted Crichton's ever popular Jurassic Park novel. The new book comes out November 24.

David Koepp, who who wrote the screenplay for Crichton's Jurassic Park and the sequel The Lost World, is going to be handling screenwriting duties here. Spielberg will produce and might even direct this project. The story is being described as "a daring plan to infiltrate Port Royal, one of the world's richest and most notorious cities, and raid a Spanish galleon filled with treasure."

"Michael wrote a real page-turner that already seems suited for the big screen," Spielberg spoke of Pirate Latitudes. "Michael and I have had almost two decades of solid collaborations. 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."

DreamWorks will wait and see how Koepp's screenplay shapes up before putting together a schedule. Michael Crichton died this past November from cancer.