Back in 2019, it was reported that Daniel Kaluuya would produce a new, live-action Barney film that will "subvert expectations," and some new details about the project have arrived thanks to the big screen arrival of another childhood favourite.
A New Yorker profile published over the weekend (July 2) goes beyond Greta Gerwig's incoming blockbuster Barbie to explore the film production division of toymaker Mattel, and how the company is "raiding its entire toybox" for productions centred around its intellectual property — one of which is Kaluuya's Barney film.
Speaking with the publication about the Barney film, Mattel's vice president Kevin McKeon called the Barney concept "surrealistic" in comparing it to works by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.
"We're leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids," he told The New Yorker. "It's really a play for adults. Not that it's R-rated, but it'll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirty-something, growing up with Barney — just the level of disenchantment within the generation."
McKeon also shared he had sold the project as an "A24-type" film, explaining, "It would be so daring of us, and really underscore that we're here to make art."
While Kaluuya declined to speak to The New Yorker for the profile, he previously shared of the film upon its 2019 announcement, "Barney was a ubiquitous figure in many of our childhoods, then he disappeared into the shadows, left misunderstood. We're excited to explore this compelling modern-day hero and see if his message of 'I love you, you love me' can stand the test of time."
The New Yorker profile notes that Mattel had "inherited the rights to the purple dinosaur in an acquisition," and relaunched the brand following the announcement of Kaluuya's film.
For the younger generations, the piece points to an investors meeting at which "plans were unveiled for a Barney 'animated preschool series,' which would be 'followed by film, music, apparel, and, of course, a new line of toys.'"
Kaluuya's Barney production is also mentioned alongside a Hot Wheels production steered by J. J. Abrams, and a Polly Pocket film with Lena Dunham at the helm. You can read about our future of toyetic cinema in the complete New Yorker profile here.
A New Yorker profile published over the weekend (July 2) goes beyond Greta Gerwig's incoming blockbuster Barbie to explore the film production division of toymaker Mattel, and how the company is "raiding its entire toybox" for productions centred around its intellectual property — one of which is Kaluuya's Barney film.
Speaking with the publication about the Barney film, Mattel's vice president Kevin McKeon called the Barney concept "surrealistic" in comparing it to works by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.
"We're leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids," he told The New Yorker. "It's really a play for adults. Not that it's R-rated, but it'll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirty-something, growing up with Barney — just the level of disenchantment within the generation."
McKeon also shared he had sold the project as an "A24-type" film, explaining, "It would be so daring of us, and really underscore that we're here to make art."
While Kaluuya declined to speak to The New Yorker for the profile, he previously shared of the film upon its 2019 announcement, "Barney was a ubiquitous figure in many of our childhoods, then he disappeared into the shadows, left misunderstood. We're excited to explore this compelling modern-day hero and see if his message of 'I love you, you love me' can stand the test of time."
The New Yorker profile notes that Mattel had "inherited the rights to the purple dinosaur in an acquisition," and relaunched the brand following the announcement of Kaluuya's film.
For the younger generations, the piece points to an investors meeting at which "plans were unveiled for a Barney 'animated preschool series,' which would be 'followed by film, music, apparel, and, of course, a new line of toys.'"
Kaluuya's Barney production is also mentioned alongside a Hot Wheels production steered by J. J. Abrams, and a Polly Pocket film with Lena Dunham at the helm. You can read about our future of toyetic cinema in the complete New Yorker profile here.
