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Ayo Edebiri is seeing purple!
The Bear actress, 29, is in talks to join the cast of Daniel Kaluuya’s upcoming live-action Barney movie and has also been tapped to write the script.
Kaluuya’s 59% Productions and Mattel Films will co-develop and produce the full-length feature film alongside A24.
The movie, which was first announced in October 2019, “will speak to the nostalgia of the brand in a way that will resonate with adults, while entertaining today’s kids,” it was said at the time.
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Barney & Friends debuted on television over two decades ago, originally running from 1992 to 2009, and at one point featured a very young Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. In addition to the long-running television show, the feature film Barney’s Great Adventure was released in 1998.
Said Kaluuya when his project about the fictional famous purple Tyrannosaurus rex was first announced, “Barney was a ubiquitous figure in many of our childhoods, then he disappeared into the shadows, left misunderstood.”
Added the Academy Award winner, “We’re excited to explore this compelling modern-day hero and see if his message of ‘I love you, you love me’ can stand the test of time.”
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During an interview with The New Yorker published in July 2023, executive vice president of Mattel Films Kevin McKeon said that the Barney movie will be “surrealistic,” comparing it to the films of screenwriter-directors Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa, I’m Thinking of Ending Things) and Spike Jonze (Her, Adaptation).
Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz appeared to backtrack on McKeon’s comments three months later, while speaking with Semafor.
“That one is getting a lot of reaction,” Kreiz said in response to a question about Mattel’s reaction to 2023’s runaway hit Barbie, which included plans at the time to bring feature-film versions of properties like Barney, Polly Pocket and UNO, among others, to the big screen.
“It’s too early to be specific, but I can tell you we are taking a fresh approach that will be fun, entertaining and culturally oriented,” the CEO continued, when the outlet suggested that a Barney movie “sounds weird.”
“It will not be an odd movie,” he added at the time.
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