Last November, the world lost one of its greatest fiction writers. Michael Crichton was a man that, with a flick of his pen or a stroke of the key, created a world where dinosaurs were brought back to life, tornadoes ravished lands as giant whirlwind beasts, and mysterious alien technology came from below us, not above.

Although Crichton has passed on, his stories have not. And close friend and frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg wants to be the director to once again bring one of these stories to life.

Spielberg is currently developing Crichton’s PIRATE LATITUDES, a high seas tale about the plan to raid the city of Port Arthur, known to be one of the most wealthy in existence, due mostly to the Spanish treasure that is secured there.

Screenwriter David Koepp (INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL) will once again team with Spielberg to adapt the novel into a film, just as he did with the director and Crichton on JURASSIC PARK and its sequel THE LOST WORLD. At this point, Spielberg is only set to produce LATITUDES, however there is a chance he may end up directing the film.

Here’s what Spielberg himself had to say about PIRATES OF LATITUDES:

“Michael wrote a real page-turner that already seems suited for the big screen.” said the director, who has expressed interest in making a pirate film.

And here is Spielberg on collaborating with Crichton:

“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.”

If you have never heard of PIRATE LATITUDES (read the in depth synopsis HERE), do not be surprised. The novel is not yet released but soon will be posthumously on November 24th of this year (shortly after the one year anniversary of Crichton’s death).

Source USA Today