I love you, you love me, we’re witnessing the death of original IP. Over the weekend, Mattel announced that Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie adaptation is just the first in a series of films that will dip into the company’s vast toybox, particularly trumpeting a Daniel Kaluuya-led Barney film. Yes, we’re talking about the purple, dead-eyed dinosaur from our imagination. And no, it won’t be for children.

Because contemporary culture is awash with adult babies, the new take on Barney will continue the trend of recasting nostalgic childhood characters for a disaffected, irony-poisoned generation of moviegoers in their 20s and 30s (see also: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey). More specifically, the Barney project will be a “surrealistic” film, according to Mattel executive Kevin McKeon, in a recent interview with the New Yorker, who makes comparisons to the likes of Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, as well as the hit film studio A24.

“We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” he adds. “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 thirtysomething, growing up with Barney – just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”

For Mattel as a whole, McKeon adds: “It would be so daring of us, and really underscore that we’re here to make art.” A lot of art, apparently: 13 more films have been publicly announced, while 45 are in development. Of these, many already have big names attached – from Tom Hanks, to JJ Abrams – in case Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken didn’t already signal Hollywood’s enthusiasm for casting a cynical eye on our collective childhoods.

Of course, this talent does mean that we could be in for some interesting takes on Mattel’s various plastic dolls, action figures, and board games in the years to come (Barbie itself is promising big things ahead of its July 21 release date). For example, Lena Dunham’s planned Polly Pocket film, starring Emily In Paris’ Lily Collins, could be genuinely incredible if she’s allowed to go full Girls with the toy company’s intellectual property. Then again, she probably won’t be.

The question is, do we really want our best filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors tied up in what boils down to multimillion-dollar adverts for a toy corporation? (As one viral tweet puts it: “branded content with a wink and movie stars is still branded content! bring back the concept of selling out!”) Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have just one (1) original idea, as a treat? Well, Greta Gerwig is already lined up to direct her next feature, a reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix, so guess we’ll never know.

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