Daniel Kaluuya has quickly become one of this generation's biggest stars. He’s known for huge blockbusters, including Black Panther (2018), Queen & Slim (2019), and Judah and the Black Messiah (2021), to name a few. Although many might have first seen Kaluuya in Get Out since it was a massive hit, one of his first significant breakout roles was in the British teen drama Skins (2007).
Skins is about a group of teenagers in Bristol, England. The series was significant because it tackles controversial topics such as abuse, mental illness, sexuality, alcoholism, and drug addiction. Kaluuya portrayed Posh Kenneth, a teenager who often fibbed about his street credibility. The series was a breakout show for other up-and-coming actors, including Kaya Scodelario (Maze Runner, Crawl) and Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies). Between Skins and Get Out, Kaluuya was in multiple projects, including Silence Witness and Daniel Mulloy's short film Baby (2010), which premiered at Sundance.
What projects are in the works for the highly sought out actor? Kaluuya has been in rather dark films in the past few years. He currently has a few projects underway: he is filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and is in post-production with The Upper World. Another critical project Kaluuya is presently working on is straying far from his other films. Kaluuya is helping produce the live-action reboot of none other than Barney, based on the 90s children’s show about a giant purple dinosaur who sang songs with kids about love, friendship, and family.
What is the explanation behind this Barney movie?
What could Kaluuya, an actor mainly in drama and horror films, possibly want to do with a children’s show? According to Kaluuya, he has many reasons for his involvement in the reboot. He has fond memories of growing up with the performance and states that the "I love you, you love me" song was one of the first songs he remembers hearing. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Kaluuya says that Barney is going to be an optimistic film in a dark world: “Barney taught us, ‘I love you, you love me. Won’t you say you love me too?’ That’s one of the first songs I remember, and what happens when that isn’t true? I thought that was really heartbreaking. I have no idea why but it feels like that makes sense. It feels like there’s something unexpected that can be poignant but optimistic”. In this case, Kaluuya truly feels that during this dark period of covid that we as a nation have entered, the world needs a little bit of brightness to shine upon us.
According to Audacy.com, Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney movie will be a much sadder, more dark take on the purple dinosaur. There aren’t essential plot details given away, and no, Kaluuya will not be playing Barney. In fact, Kaluuya will not be in the film at all; He will be producing it. It also hasn’t been specified if this is a children’s movie or more of a dark comedy for adults. Honestly, the thought of a live-action purple dinosaur screams terrifying.
Kaluuya stated there would be a ‘dark side’ of the story; could it be more on the creepy side like children’s films such as Monster House (2006) Coraline (2009)? or will it actually be a more sinister take? When the film was announced, Robbie Brenner of Mattel Films’ stated, “Working with Daniel Kaluuya will enable us to take a completely new approach to Barney that will surprise audiences and subvert expectations. The project will speak to the nostalgia of the brand in a way that will resonate with adults while entertaining today’s kids.” With this comment, it seems that the film will still be a kid’s film, so when Kaluuya stated the movie was going to have a ‘dark side,’ don’t expect a horror film with Barney the dinosaur going on a murder rampage, though, that would be an interesting concept.
When will this Barney movie come out?
Kaluuya didn’t specify when Barney would come out, but it’s rumored to release in theaters sometime in 2022. Kaluuya has been relatively quiet about the movie in the past few months, as the last time he talked about it was in March 2021. Hopefully, this means the film is being worked on, and it isn’t yet another movie that never gets made. He did state in March that he is still very much involved in the film, producing Barney with his production company 59% along with Valparaiso Pictures and Mattel Films.
Barney was created by Sheryl Leach and was originally a straight-to-video series called Barney & the Backyard Gang in 1988. In 1992, PBS picked up the show, and the show was now called Barney & Friends. Barney was and remained a top-rated show amongst children and families everywhere. The show ran for 17 years, from 1992-2009. After all these years, Barney remains in everyone’s hearts and minds, and hopefully, a new, darker Barney film will bring back the iconic dinosaur.