Yes, Jennifer Lopez is making a Bob the Builder movie, yes, it’s still in the works, and now it even has a home.
Right at the start of the year it was announced that a Bob the Builder animated movie is in the works, which wasn’t entirely surprising as Mattel owns the rights to the series and it’s been moving forward with all sorts of toy-inspired projects. What was surprising was the fact that Jennifer Lopez of all people is attached to produce. She still is producing the film, and yesterday Deadline reported that the film is moving ahead at Amazon MGM Studios. Apparently it was a bit of a bidding war, with Netflix and DreamWorks Animation all after the project, but sources that spoke with Deadline say that Amazon MGM Studios is the one to have won out.
As of right now it’s not clear if the film is planned as a Prime Video streaming release or if it’ll be heading to cinemas, but despite Bob the Builder being a big part of plenty of British kid’s childhoods, I’m not exactly sure it has a big enough name these days to get bums in seats, even with Jenny from the block producing it. Deadline also notes that as far as it understands, Lopez isn’t currently set to voice anyone in the film, but it was previously confirmed that Twisters star Anthony Ramos would be playing the titular builder.
An official synopsis of the film explains, “When Roberto ‘Bob’ travels to the enchanting island of Puerto Rico for a major construction job, he takes on issues affecting the island and digs deeper into what it means to build. Bob’s journey will celebrate the vibrant and colorful textures of the Caribbean Latin nations and their people.” Deadline also says that it was Ramos’ idea for this Bob the Builder film to be set in Puerto Rico.
I still can’t quite wrap my head around Jennifer Lopez producing a Bob the Builder film, but hey, stranger things have happened – we’ll all just have to wait and see how it pans out.
