‘Jack The Giant Killer’ Writer Darren Lemke Tapped For ‘Carmen Sandiego’
Since co-writingShrek Forever Aftera few years ago,Darren Lemke’s built himself a nice career adapting classic kid-friendly fare into big-screen features. He’s one of the scribes behind the fairy tale retellingJack the Giant Killerand has worked on reinterpretations of bothThe NutcrackerandThe Wizard of Oz. Outside of the fairyland, he’s doing a fresh draft of the R.L. Stine-basedGoosebumpsfor Columbia — and now he’s added theJennifer Lopez-producedWhere in the World is Carmen Sandiego?movie to his plate as well. More details after the jump.
Walden Media picked up the movie rights toCarmen Sandiegoin November, and is envisioning the live-action adventure as “a cross betweenThomas Crown AffairandNational Treasure.” Sounds like a fun trick, if they can pull it off. It’ll be interesting to see how much of the educational angle Walden retains, though.
While we haven’t seen much from Lemke yet, his upcoming slate suggests he’s got a knack for smarter-than-average family pics, soCarmen Sandiegoshould be right up his alley. Lemke has two films due out next year, the aforementionedJack the Giant Killerand DreamWorks' snail racing picTurbo.
The movie’s Carmen Sandiego will be a talented detective who goes rogue, becoming the world’s greatest thief. Her ex-partner from ACME, her former agency, is assigned to track her down. But as the mystery unfolds, the partner realizes that ACME may be part of a larger, more sinister conspiracy — and that far from being a villain, Sandiego may in fact be a hero.
No director or cast has been announced at this time, and we’ve no idea yet when cameras will start rolling onCarmen Sandiego. Although Lopez is only confirmed to produce at the moment,THRsays she’s considering starring as well. Walden’s project is shaping up to become the character’s first appearance on the big screen, though they’re not the first to make the attempt. A version starring Sandra Bullock was in development several years back, but never got off the ground.
