Paramount's live action movie version of Dora The Explorer has found it's villain, and it's not a CGI rendered version of Swiper the Fox. Mexican star Eugenio Derbez is said to be finalizing his deal to star in the live-action flick based on the popular children's animated series. Dora the Explorer was a massive success amongst preschoolers when it debuted on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr in 2000. It ran for eight seasons and spawned popular spin-off shows Go, Diego Go! starring Dora's equally adventurous cousin Diego and Dora and Friends: Into the Series, that saw Dora as a 10-year old still going on adventures.

The animated series is still hugely popular amongst pre-schoolers and grade schoolers who watch the show in reruns, and Paramount is hoping to capitalize on that success with their upcoming live-action remake. Many kids who have grown up watching Dora are now teenagers themselves who perhaps will want to indulge their inner child and revisit the world of Dora the Explorer as teens. Sixteen-year old actress Isabella Moner, perhaps best known to audiences for her role in Transformers: The Last Knight has landed the lead role of Dora in the live action remake.

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Collider is now reporting that Derbez is finalizing a deal to join the cast as 'a roguish explorer named Alejandro Gutierrez.' The report states that Derbez ends up being the movie's main antogonist, although details of his role are few. Derbez recently starred in the remake of Overboard alongside Anna Faris. The movie will focus on Dora as a teenager who moves to the city to live with her cousin, Diego. So far Moner is the only confirmed actor cast in the remake, as Derbez finalizes his deal. There has been no word on who may take the role of Dora's animal loving, adventure seeking cousin Diego, nor how the studio is planning to handle the various sidekicks from the original animated series.

In the animated series, Dora's best friend is a talking monkey named Boots, and together the duo use their trusty guides, a talking backpack named 'Backpack', and a map named 'Map' to help guide them through each adventure. Along the way they do their best to avoid sneaky fox Swiper who is always trying to swipe something important from Dora. Diego is also never seen without his loyal baby jaguar friend, and how Paramount is going to approach these potential characters still remains to be seen. No word yet on whether these notable characters will appear in CGI form or if the story will be reworked to incorporate them in a different manner.

Fans can expect more casting news to come soon, as Paramount is set to begin production later this summer. The Muppets director James Bobin has signed on to direct the Michael Bay produced movie and Nick Stoller and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel have taken on script writing duties. Dora the Explorer is set to hit theaters on August 2nd, 2019.

MORE: SICARIO SEQUEL ADDS ISABELA MONER

Source: Collider

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