A24’s Barney movie with Daniel Kaluuya is one of the weirdest things in development right now. What does a live-action movie about the talking purple dinosaur and children’s show character look like in a post-Barbie world? Well, it could be anything, right? It could even have a script by…Ayo Edibiri! Yep, that’s happening. Told you this is weird.
The red-hot Edibiri will write and possibly star in Barney. The film has Kaluuya aboard as lead producer, as he will no longer star in it according to Variety. Perhaps Edibiri will be under the suit, instead? Who knows?
“Barney taught us, ‘I love you, you love me. Won’t you say you love me too?’ That’s one of the first songs I remember, and what happens when that isn’t true? I thought that was really heartbreaking,” Kaluuya said in a 2020 interview with EW. “I have no idea why but it feels like that makes sense. It feels like there’s something unexpected that can be poignant but optimistic. Especially at this time now, I think that’s really, really needed.”
Mattel Films is developing and producing the project, as well. Given the success they found with Barbie, expect them to let Edibiri go crazy and take Barney to some unexpected places. It paid off once, it might pay off again!
Edibiri is best known for her breakout role in The Bear. She has the Sundance comedy Opus (review here) hitting theaters on March 14th, and it’s also backed by A24. Edibiri has previously written for What We Do in the Shadows, Dickinson, and Craig of the Creek.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Barney has previously been described as surreal similar to the movies of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. 2002’s Death to Smoochy was a dark take on the Barney character, focused on the person inside the suit. Perhaps that’s the direction Edibiri will go in?
