Barney, the friendly purple dinosaur is set to grace the silver screen soon.
Ayo Edebiri, the sound of Envy from Inside Out 2 is set to write the screenplay as well as star in the live-action film of Barney.
The children film will be co-developed and produced by A24 and Daniel Kaluuya’s 59% Productions in partnership with Barney IP owner Mattel Films.
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, reported by People.
Mattel has mostly remained secretive about the movie.Â
However, last year in October, Mattel Chief franchise officer Josh Silverman teased how the film’s plot differs from Max’s new animated reboot of the Barney franchise while still noting “our television and films teams work very well together.”
“We’re very much hand in glove and in concert,” Silverman said. “And Robbie Brenner, who leads our film division, who’s just incredible, she and I spent a ton of time together talking about this.”
He added, “We want to have a clear narrative. In the case here, the ‘Barney’ film will be what it’s ultimately going to be, and this show, we felt that, we want to remain consistent to the authenticity.”
While talking about the keeping film’s originality alive he continued, “That’s really, really important. If it’s not authentic, we’re not going to do it. We want to remain consistent to the authenticity, the DNA of Barney, but we also want to modernize.”
Barney & Friends debuted on television over two decades ago, originally running from 1992 to 2009, and at one point featured 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.
