Daniel Kaluuya is making a reboot of Barney that will 'subvert expectations'
Hollywood has once again spun the wheel of intellectual property to revive for the big screen and landed, this time, on Barney.
A new live-action movie based on the dinosaur from our imagination is in the works, with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya producing, The Hollywood Reporter writes. The Oscar-nominated actor sure goes overboard in his announcement, seeming to stop just short of declaring this reboot will save cinema itself and isn't a Barney movie, but a Barney film.
"Barney was a ubiquitous figure in many of our childhoods, then he disappeared into the shadows, left misunderstood," Kaluuya declared. "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."
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The studio's description of the film wasn't much less over-the-top, with Mattel Films head Robbie Brenner promising a "completely new approach" to Barney "that will surprise audiences and subvert expectations" and "speak to the nostalgia of the brand in a way that will resonate with adults, while entertaining today's kids." Yes, we're still talking about Barney here.
There's no other details yet about how exactly the film plans to subvert expectations, perhaps with a Joker-style gritty origin story revealing Barney's troubled past, but stay tuned for more information about the inevitable Best Picture winner and to find out whether Martin Scorsese considers Barney movies to be cinema.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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