A24 Confirms a Live-Action Barney Movie (And It’s Going to Be REALLY Weird)

For years, Get Out and Nope star Daniel Kaluuya has been developing a live-action Barney movie, and now that project has taken a significant step forward. It’s been announced that Mattel Films and Kaluuya’s 59% Productions label are teaming up with A24 on the film. Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) will write the script, and she is currently in talks to headline the movie’s cast as well. For the time being, Kaluuya is just attached as a producer. It is unknown when Barney would begin production, and the movie does not have a release date as of this writing.

Barney is based on the classic PBS children’s series Barney & Friends, which ran for 14 seasons from 1989-2010. While Barney & Friends was targeted primarily at toddlers, Kaluuya — who has been working on Barney since 2020 — has said the film will be much darker in tone, as it “[leans] into the millennial angst of the property,” exploring the franchise’s message of love and togetherness through an adult lens.

Back in 2023, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz defended Barney, assuring everyone that despite the unusual approach, the film will still be “fun, entertaining, and culturally oriented.” He made a point to state that the movie will not be “odd.”

[RELATED – The Biggest A24 Movies Ever at the Box Office May Surprise You]

At first glance, A24 seems like a strange home for Barney. Cinephiles know the studio for its prestigious offerings across a variety of genres. Many A24 titles receive widespread acclaim and awards consideration, so it’s eye-catching to see Barney land there. However, when one considers Kaluuya’s concept for the film, the connection makes sense. This is not a straight adaptation of Barney & Friends that’s trying to bring the TV show’s format to the big screen. While there’s still much unknown, the plan is for the movie to tackle poignant, intimate themes, particularly touching on “the level of disenchantment within the generation” that grew up on Barney & Friends. That premise sounds like it would be a strong fit for A24; in fact, the project was shopped around as “an A24-type film,” so this was probably the best turn of events for Kaluuya.

It seems like the goal with Barney is to follow the footsteps of The Lego Movie and Barbie. Rather than being a simple cash grab capitalizing on the popularity of an established brand, it’s going the deconstructionist route by unpacking the property and finding something truly fascinating and compelling to say about the world. The Lego Movie and Barbie were both universally acclaimed thanks to their ability to blend entertainment with powerful storytelling, so that’s an ideal blueprint for Barney to follow. Perhaps Kaluuya and Edebiri will find themselves on the awards circuit campaigning for their film about a purple dinosaur.