Barney, that purple dinosaur loved by kids around the globe, is getting his own special Hollywood moment.
In 2019, Mattel announced a live-action movie about the dino that would be produced by Daniel Kaluuya. Kaluuya was the lead in one of the most celebrated horror movies of modern times ‘Get Out’.
Kevin McKeon, the other producer on the project, recently shared what the vision for the movie is and it does not sound like one the kids will be laughing and learning from.
McKeon said the film would be “surrealistic” in a similar vein to movies by Charlie Kaufman (‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’) and Spike Jonze (‘Being John Malkovich’). Both those filmmakers err on the side of bizarre when it comes to filmmaking, with their movies morphing elements of fantasy and the absurd into reality.
McKeon added that this movie will be made with the older generations in mind.
“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 thirtysomething, growing up with Barney — just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”
He added that it will be an “A24 type film”. A24 are the production company behind most of the more out-there movies around today, such as ‘Midsommar’, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, and ‘Uncut Gems’, to name a few.
“It would be so daring of us, and really underscore that we’re here to make art," McLeod finished.
Based on all that information, it’s either going to be a movie that weaves the supernatural and the current world or is going to be emotionally heavy. So, Barney is either about to be seen possibly morphing dimensions, tackling that he’s no longer relevant, and/or some shit that no one could even comprehend.
At least it’s not him stumbling across a pack of cocaine and going on a murderous rampage. That genre has barely been here a year and it’s already been done to death.
