"Barney may be a dinosaur, not a bear, but his live-action film could be penned by a star from The Bear, ensuring every angle is perfectly covered."

That Daniel Kaluuya led Barney the Dinosaur movie is seemingly gearing up to add The Bear star Ayo Edebiri as a star and writer on the project.

In an age where every single IP that has ever existed must be adapted, rebooted, twisted into something new, there is not one that feels more “ok, sure, whatever” than Barney the Dinosaur. Announced way back in 2019, Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya’s 59% banner is partnering with Mattel Films and Valparaiso Pictures to develop a live-action adaptation of the beloved pinkish/ purplish/ greenish dinosaur, having previously been described as both a “surrealistic”, “A24-type” movie while simultaneously not being “odd”, which is sending some mixed signals, but whatever. Now, as reported by Variety, the film is finally bringing on a writer, The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri, who’s also apparently set to star in the project.

She’s currently just in talks on the casting side right now, but as of yet there are still no plot details to glean from this particular update. Edebiri definitely has the weird creative chops for something like this, so I’m definitely curious to see what comes of this. Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon previously said that they’re “leaning into the Millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” and that it’s “really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being 30-something, growing up with Barney – just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”

It genuinely doesn’t sound like an awful concept, Barbie, another Mattel film, obviously found a lot of success with its approach to the iconic toy, though whether Barney has the legs – and widespread recognition – definitely remains to be seen. Honestly, my biggest fear is that the trailer uses a sad, slowed-down remix of the show’s main theme. Get that nonsense out of here!