Merrick here...

Steven Spielberg is developing a feature film based on PIRATE LATITUDES, a posthumously published Michael Crichton novel that won't hit stores until late November. It can be pre-ordered HERE.

David Koepp (JURASSIC PARK, THE LOST WORLD, WAR OF THE WORLDS, and...well...KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL) will adapt the book.

DreamWorks Studios describes the novel, set for release Nov. 24, as the story of "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."

"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," says Stacey Snider, Spielberg's partner in DreamWorks and the company's co-chair and CEO.

You may recall that DreamWorks has entered into a distribution deal with Disney. When asked whether this pirate movie would clash with that studio's future PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN films...

Snider says these swashbuckling movies won't clash because Pirate Latitudes will be more grounded in reality, as opposed to the supernatural fantasy of the Disney films. "We would only pursue this if it was wonderful in its own way, and didn't interfere with their films,"

...says THIS PIECE in USA Today.

It'll be interesting to see how LATITUDES stands up to EATERS OF THE DEAD (HERE) - the Muslim & Vikings Crichton book on which the underappreciated THE 13th WARRIOR was based.