Almost 18 years after the release of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, a prequel Master and Commander film is in development at 20th Century.

The production has tapped screenwriter Patrick Ness to write the next film, which is likely to be based on the first book in  Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey–Maturin series.

The 2003 film which nabbed 10 Oscar nominations was directed by Peter Weir and starred Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin. Master and Commander was originally designed to be a film franchise, however, the film's below-par performance at the box office seemed to have spoiled the plans

As of now, no director or cast are attached to the prequel film, which is in its early stages of development.

Ness, a novelist and screenwriter is best known for creating the Chaos Walking series, which he adapted for the 2021 movie. Ness also wrote the script for A Monster Calls.