Jennifer Lopez to Produce “Bob the Builder” Movie Starring Anthony Ramos

Mattel‘s record-breaking movie Barbie featuring Oscar-nominated actress America Ferrera is inspiring the toy company to make a whole line-up of films centered on their products. From American Girl to Barney to Polly Pocket, we can expect to see many unique takes on these 2000s classics. The next project slated for production is an animated feature film of Bob the Builder, inspired by the British children’s program that originally debuted in 1999. Jennifer Lopez is confirmed to produce the film while Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) is set to co-produce and star in the titular role as Bob, who is reimagined to be a Puerto Rican construction worker named Roberto, according to Deadline.

“For years, Bob the Builder’s characters have inspired young people around the world,” Ramos said in a statement. “A movie about friends working together, a celebration of a beautiful home they share, and how love can help to conquer any obstacle in your way. Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”

The 32-year-old actor of Puerto Rican descent later shared the news on Instagram writing: “Proud to be working with the family at @mattel and stepping into the producing chair with @jlo on this one. Thank you @mattel and @shadowmachine_official – Grateful for what we’re building👷‍♂️🇵🇷”

The original Bob the Builder children’s series debuted on the UK network CBeebies in 1999 and ran for 12 seasons. It followed Bob, a general contractor who helps his neighbors and friends with sticky situations and fixes things around the neighborhood. Using a mix of stop-motion and CGI animation, the show inspired a spin-off show and a 2014 reboot, and was later sold to Mattel in 2011.

Now, the company is giving it the feature film treatment with a Latinx spin. In this version, Bob, or Roberto, travels to Puerto Rico for a construction job and “takes on issues affecting the island and digs deeper into what it means to build.” Along the way, audiences will also get to see and “celebrate the vibrant and colorful textures of the Caribbean Latin nations and their people,” Deadline reported. Writer Felipe Vargas (Milk Teeth) will pen the screenplay.

“Pairing Anthony and Felipe’s genius vision for the story will capture this beloved character in a manner that audiences who grew up with Bob will recognize, and all-new audiences will enjoy,” said president of Mattel Films Robbie Brenner in a statement to Variety.

No other casting decisions or release date have been announced yet but we’re excited to see this new film reimagining of a classic show and see what this Latinx-led team will create together.