Gina Rodriguez cast as Carmen Sandiego in Netflix live action film
Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Gina Rodriguez has been cast in the role of Carmen Sandiego in a live-action movie featuring the iconic 1980s and 1990s character to air on Netflix. Rodriguez, who is best known for her role in the TV series “Jane the Virgin,” was previously slated to voice Carmen Sandiego in an animated series scheduled to drop on the livestreaming service in 2019.
Carmen Sandiego began her existence as a computer game character in the mid-1980s. She became the center of a multi-media franchise that, besides computer games, included a number of TV series, a number of books and comic books, and even board games.
The promise of the franchise, also called “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” was that Sandiego was a lady thief who stole primarily for the challenge of doing so. She is pursued by operatives of the ACME Detective Agency in various locales around the world.
Sandiego’s backstory suggested that she was either a former intelligence agent or a former operative for ACME. She is occasionally described as having a conscience, though she is also arrogant enough to boast that no one can catch her, nor can any of her plans be thwarted. When the game player nevertheless catches Sandiego, a trial is depicted.
The Carmen Sandiego games were originally designed to impart geography facts to young people who were the primary demographic for the franchise. The educational aspect later expanded to history, language skills, math and a number of other subjects. Game play tended to also teach logic skills and an appreciation for other cultures.
Sandiego is Hispanic, unique at the time for computer gaming characters. She is usually depicted wearing a red trench coat and fedora.
A number of previous attempts have been made to bring Carmen Sandiego to the big screen. Disney at one time had Sandra Bullock attached in the title role in a film project. Jennifer Lopez later was slated to both produce and star in a film adventure of the lady thief as recently as 2012.
The Netflix live-action “Carmen Sandiego” has yet to have a director or a writer attached to it. No news is available as to what the plot will be and whether the film will somehow tie into the upcoming animated series. No release date has been announced. A series of Carmen Sandiego books is due to be released in conjunction with the animated series in 2019.
