Pirates of the Caribbean to plunder next-gen consoles, PSP, and DS

When it was released in summer 2003, the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a surprise smash in theaters and on video. However, its game adaptation did not do nearly as well, despite semi-positive reviews.

Buena Vista Entertainment appears determined not to let that happen again. Today, the entertainment conglomerate announced its Buena Vista Games division is planning a whole series of games based on Pirates and its sequels. "The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will develop over the next few years as one of the most exciting and important initiatives BVG will spearhead," said Buena Vista Games' senior vice president and general manager Graham Hopper.

First up will be two portable adaptations of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which is currently filming in Los Angeles and the Caribbean. When the sequel hits theaters next summer, it will arrive with a Sony PSP and a Nintendo DS game in tow. Like the film, the game follows the further adventures of the eccentric buccaneer, Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp), as he tries to track down another magical pirate relic. No plot details are available for the third Pirates film, which is set for release in the summer of 2007.

According to Buena Vista, both portable Pirates are being developed by Griptonite Games, developer of the Game Boy Advance versions of James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Besides the two handheld versions of Dead Man's Chest, Buena Vista also said that there will be next-generation console games based on the Pirates films to be developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software. No specific platforms were mentioned.

Pirates will be the latest movie-to-game endeavor for Eurocom. Besides its current projects, Electronic Arts' Batman Begins and VU Games' Predator: Concrete Jungle, the British studio has developed games based on the Harry Potter and James Bond films.