'Chaos Walking' writer Patrick Ness working on 'Master and Commander' prequel

Washington [US], June 6 : 20th Century Studios has tapped screenwriter Patrick Ness to cook up another 'Master and Commander' film, one that will likely draw on the first book in Patrick O'Brian's beloved Aubrey-Maturin series.
According to Variety, those novels inspired 2003 epic 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World', which nabbed 10 Oscar nominations and a boatload of great reviews when it opened in theaters.
Peter Weir directed the film, which starred Russell Crowe as Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Maturin, but those roles will presumably be recast as both actors are a little long in the tooth to play young seamen.
'Master and Commander' was originally designed to be a film franchise, with each new installment checking in with the dashing naval captain and the brainy ship surgeon as they navigated the Napoleonic Wars.
However, those plans were scratched. Despite the film's virtues, its USD 211.6 million box office gross was something of a commercial disappointment given its USD 150 million budget.
It's still early days on the new project. No director or cast has been attached so a lot could change and the film might even never make it out of the dry dock.
Ness is a novelist and screenwriter, best known for creating the 'Chaos Walking' series. He adapted that project for the 2021 movie and also wrote the script for 'A Monster Calls'.