Carmen Sandiego is a franchise that I've known of for years yet have never actually gotten into it at all for some odd reason. I vaguely remember the game's existence as a kid as I preferred games like Tomb Raider over educational junk. Anyways, I was inspired to write this after seeing Alex's funny as usual news article about Carmen Sandiego getting a movie. Here is the official synopsis/description of the film
"When the ACME agency’s greatest detective Carmen Sandiego becomes the world’s greatest thief, it’s up to her former partner to follow her clues and track her down. Their cat-and-mouse game leads the partner to confront a greater mystery: Is Carmen really a thief or a hero? The property originated as an educational computer game before it was turned into an animated TV series."
After reading that the premise was going to be a cross between National Treasure and The Thomas Crown Affair because I think a film that takes a little bit of both of those could be potentially be pretty awesome. Now the casting of Jennifer Lopez in the role would worry me as like many, I'm not very fond of Jennifer Lopez. She's nice to look at but I really don't want her in the role. Quickly looking through who some of the characters were in the series, I found myself have no trouble casting actors for those roles and even a director I found could potentially do the film.
Director
Finding a director for this was extraordinarily easy as one of the films they are using as an inspiration for this film was directed by a very talented director who could make a great Carmen Sandiego film. That director is John McTiernan-the famed director of Die Hard, The Hunt For Red October, and The Thomas Crown Affair remake with Pierce Brosnan. He's also directed Predator, The Last Action Hero, and Die Hard With a Vengeance. So yes, this guy has one hell of a filmography
The Hunt For Red October for me is the greatest thriller of the latter half of the 20th Century really thanks to McTiernan so the guy definitely has a good idea of what to do with a thriller and since the studio wants the film to be like The Thomas Crown Affair, there's no one better to direct than McTiernan himself. The only problem is that he's currently involved in a criminal case which is essentially a big no-no for studios because if anything else happens and he's on the project, then a lot of bad publicity will come out although it would get people talking about it. Still though as he is appealing his conviction and isn't going to be going to prison or jail, he should still remain free to work on the project.
Carmen Sandiego
Casting Carmen Sandiego was a total no brainer because I knew of the perfect actress for the role right of the top of my head. I am of course talking about the beautiful and talented Penelope Cruz. People really did seem to like her in the most recent entry in to the Pirates of Caribbean series so I think she could easily pull of Carmen Sandiego. She's also 37 which is the right age for the character as she isn't meant to be young as evidenced by the fact that Jennifer Lopez is in the running for the role.
The character of Carmen Sandiego stands out as she's a female villain which is still sort of rare in films these days and was rare back when the character first came around. She also stands out as being Hispanic so that really does make her different. Female villains can be found in video games quite often like in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.
Cruz in her career has been nominated for so many various acting awards so I don't think there's any doubt about her acting abilities and she can surely do the stunts as she did quite a lot of stuff in Pirates of the Caribbean I believer herself while pregnant. There are also two other actresses that people have suggested to me. Those would be Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angelina Jolie. Both are rather tall and pretty good actresses so either one could also play the character. The character was voiced by Rita Moreno in most if not all of her appearances but was never distinctly said to be Hispanic I guess so either one of them could play the character even though Zeta-Jones is in her 40's which makes me want to almost rule her out. So as she's 42, I have no choice but to rule her out. Jolie on the other hand is 36 so she's still young enough for the role. Then there's also Rosario Dawson who could also play the role.So the shortlist now has Anne Hathaway who was suggested by Moviefreak, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angelina Jolie, and my first choice Penelope Cruz. I don't want Zeta-Jones but since somebody suggested her in the comments, I guess I'll still keep her on the list.
The Chief
I knew for sure that I wanted to have the Chief in the film as she's always been a part of the series and I feel leaving her out would be a mistake. The character has been with the franchise since it's beginning's so it's essential to have her in the film. The actress I found is one I've enjoyed in everything I've seen her in-from Law & Order to Justice League. The actress I am of course talking about is CCH Pounder. Even with out reading a script before hand, Pounder can always give a pretty awesome performance.
I'm not sure whether casting CCH Pounder in a role similar to Amanda Waller is something that should be done but still I can't name anyone else good enough for the role. She's the head of the ACME Detective Agency and is a really tough, no nonsense character. Pounder could do it and I don't know of anyone else who could do it as well as she could.
The character wouldn't obviously be the star of the film but she's easily the most important supporting character Carmen Sandiego has.
Zack & Ivy
In Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, Zack and Ivy were two kids that were siblings and worked for ACME. They were the ones who tried to find Carmen Sandiego as she traveled all over the world leaving clues along the way. Now I would not make them kids or siblings in my Carmen Sandiego movie, instead they'd be partners and agents of ACME. As a result, anybody be casted in the two roles because they're not important and it doesn't matter who plays them. For all I care, they don't even need to be in the movie but as the film probably needs two more characters they could be in it. There names wouldn't have to be Zack or Ivy either as like I said, they're not important characters.
