Even earlier than the Barbie film turned one of many greatest movies of 2023, it was clear Mattel was going to make use of that as a leaping off level to deliver extra of its toys to the silver display. The firm’s by no means been shy about what toys are getting the film remedy, with probably the most well-known of the bunch being one targeted on Barney the Purple Dinosaur that can star Nope’s Daniel Kaluuya.
Recently, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz touched on that movie, at present titled Barbie & Friends. In an interview with Semafor Business, he stated it was “too early” to speak specifics for that movie, however claimed it might be much less existentially meta than Barbie was. “It will not be an odd movie,” he stated. “I can tell you we are taking a fresh approach that will be fun, entertaining and culturally oriented.”
Kreiz’s feedback on Barney & Friends conflict with ones beforehand made by Mattel Films’ Kevin McKeon. Back in July, the chief claimed to The Wrap this film would “lean into the millennial angst” of the property, calling it “really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney — just the level of disenchantment within the generation.” That similar month, fellow government Robbie Brenner described it as being akin to Being John Malkovich or Adaptation—”Any film that has Barney isn’t definitely going to be easy,” she instructed Variety. “We’re not making Ted.”
Whatever Mattel finally ends up doing with that Barney film, McKeon does have a degree in highlighting the oddness of rising up with the dinosaur. As highlighted within the 2022 documentary I Love You, You Hate Me, there was a time period within the early 2000s the place teenagers and adults genuinely hated the character, with the previous making up songs about killing him and the latter sending demise threats to these concerned with the present. The film might not totally handle that form of overblown ugliness, but it surely wouldn’t be shocking if that had been acknowledged in some style.
Of course, all of this is determined by the precise Barney & Friends film getting made and launched, and we’ll see how that goes.
[via Deadline]
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