Steven Spielberg is reportedly keen on making a movie based on Michael Crichton’s posthumously published novel Pirate Latitudes.

According to USA Today, the director has tapped David Koepp, the writer behind the Spielberg-Crichton Jurassic Park collaborations, to pen Latitudes.

The story centres on pirates planning to attack Port Royal and raid a treasure-filled Spanish galleon.

Discussing his plans for Latitudes and working relationship with Crichton, Spielberg said:

“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.”

Spielberg’s DreamWorks partner Stacey Snider added:

“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. Anything that Michael wrote, Steven would be keenly interested to read. But without Michael knowing it, or even me knowing it, it turns out Steven always wanted to direct his own pirate film.”

The Pirate Latitudes novel will be released on November 24. Crichton passed away last year at the age of 66. His books Congo and Disclosure were also adapted for the screen.