Mattel’s Barney Movie Will Be an “Off-Kilter” Adult Story

The famous purple dinosaur is coming to the big screen since Mattel is developing a movie based on Barney, the popular children franchise. But it’s definitely not going to be what the audience expects.

Released in 1992 on PBS, Barney has become a huge symbol within the world of children and family television, and one of the most popular franchises targeted to the little ones. The original show ended in 2010, although several specials, videos and reruns were still available after that for the fans to enjoy, which managed to keep the brand to remain present within the industry.

Back in 2018, Mattel announced that they were developing a movie based on the purple dinosaur’s legacy, with actor Daniel Kaluuya’s production company working on the project. Earlier this year, executive producer Kevin McKeon teased that the upcoming Barney movie would tackle adult conflicts and would aim to a more mature audience. Now, all of these is confirmed by Mattel’s Robbie Brenner.

Speaking with Variety, Brenner shared new details about the project, anticipating a story about “identity and finding who you love and who feels alienated”, while focusing on “adult themes — and sort of be a little bit off-kilter.”

Brenner also gave some examples of movies that could feel similar to the one they’re trying to make, and one that’s definitely not what they want to do:

“I don’t know that it’s necessarily going to be darker. It’s just going to be unique — more of like a Being John Malkovich or an Adaptation. Any movie that has Barney is not certainly going to be straightforward. We’re not making ‘Ted.’ You know what I mean?”

Related: Will This Strange Barney Parody Overshadow the Upcoming A24-Like Iteration?

Many of Mattel’s Biggest Franchises Are Coming to the Big Screen

Barney is not the only popular brand that will be surprising moviegoers in the next couple of years. After the major success Mattel is achieving with Barbie, there’s no doubt they would love to explore more of that universe. Although director Greta Gerwig said she has nothing planned, but there are a lot of ways Mattel could expand the franchise. But she’s not the only doll that could build her own universe.

Polly Pocket will also be getting her own movie, with Lily Collins from Emily in Paris set to star, and Girls creator Lena Dunham behind the project. Another major toy franchises that will make it to the big screen are Hot Wheels, American Girls, Magic 8 Ball, UNO, Matchbox, and View Master among others.

Fast & Furious’ Vin Diesel is also set to star in one of Mattel’s upcoming projects, a movie based on Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Masters of the Universe, a franchise that already had a movie in development at Netflix, has recently received bad news when the streaming platform decided to cancel the project, but Mattel’s still looking for a new company interested in developing new stories based on one of its most popular brands that’s been invading television and cinema since the 80’s.