The Hollywood Reporter ran an exclusive story yesterday announcing that a live action film based on the long-running Nick Jr. series Dora The Explorer is in development at Paramount Pictures. While no director has been announced, it will be written by The Muppets and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie scribe Nick Stoller and will be produced by Michael Bay as well as Andrew Form and Brad Fuller from Bay’s company Platinum Dunes. All that is known about the plot so far is that it’s set to follow Dora as she moves in with her cousin Diego in a new city. The movie is aiming at a 2019 release.
The news is surprising to say the least. Bay is of course known for his Transformers series of films, and the demographic for those movies and the demographic that watches Dora aren’t exactly the same. Producing isn’t directing, so it’s entirely possible that Bay is just putting his money towards the project and won’t put his creative spin on Dora’s new adventure. However, it sounds like the movie will be released under the Platinum Dunes label, which is known for horror and action films aimed at the 13-and-over crowd. Will this new Dora movie be aimed at the teenagers that watch the Transformers movies or will it be aimed at the young children that watch Dora on TV every morning? That will be interesting to find out, if nothing else.