Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz says Daniel Kaluuya’s upcoming Barney film will “not be an odd movie.”
In a recent interview with Semafor, Kreiz briefly spoke about the upcoming Barney movie that’s being produced by Get Out‘s Kaluuya.
Noting that the movie is already “getting a lot of reaction,” Kreiz said, “It’s too early to be specific, but I can tell you we are taking a fresh approach that will be fun, entertaining, and culturally oriented. It will not be an odd movie.”
In July 2023, Deadline reported that Mattel Films was still moving forward with a Barney movie that executive producer Kevin McKeon described as an “A24-type” project. The news came just a few weeks before Barbie, which is also produced by Mattel Films, debuted in theaters. Barbie has gone on to make $1.43 billion at the worldwide box office so far, currently making it the 14th highest-grossing film of all time.
Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney movie will be for adults
Not much is known about what the Barney movie is about; however, McKeon told The New Yorker the film would be more for adults than it would be for children.
“We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” he said. “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 described the movie as “surrealistic” and compared it to the works of Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.
The Barney project has been in development since 2019. Mattel Films also has a number of other live-action films currently in various stages of development, including a Hot Wheels movie produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, a Magic 8 Ball movie, a Polly Pocket film directed by Lena Dunham, and more.
