Michael Crichton’s upcoming book, Pirate Latitudes, was discovered as a complete manuscript in his files after his death in 2008. As a result it’s getting published in November, and as with most Crichton books, a movie adaptation is in the works.
Steven Spielberg has picked up the comparatively short tome (it’s only 320 pages) and has set David Koepp to write a big screen adaptation. This is the team that put together the adaptation of Crichton’s Jurassic Park, so it is something to get a little bit excited about (although they also did The Lost World, so perhaps we should dial back that excitement a little).
Spielberg told USA Today that, “Michael wrote a real page-turner that already seems suited for the big screen. 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.”
It’s a particularly good subject for Spielberg, as he’s always wanted to make a pirate movie, and the new book certainly would give him plenty of room for buckling swashes. Set in the Caribbean in the 17th Century, Pirate Latitudes The Caribbean, 1665. An English Captain, Edward Hunter, sets off to enter the heavily fortified Spanish-controlled harbor of Mantanceros, where it’s rumoured a galleon laden with gold is undergoing repairs. Hunter plans to ‘liberate’ the booty, which may be more difficult than it first seems.
Sounds like it could be fun, especially as Crichton books often read like films anyway.