10 INSANE Movies You Won't Believe Are Getting Made

6. Barney

Barbie's mesmerising box office success has prompted Mattel to re-double their efforts to produce more than a dozen films based on their various toys and products, effectively building a - wait for it - Mattel Cinematic Universe.

It sounds horribly cynical and gross, and it is, yet there's one project among the lot which can't help but raise some eyebrows - in a damn good way.

In October 2019, it was first announced that Daniel Kaluuya was working on a Barney movie, which Mattel has themselves called "surrealistic," while drawing comparisons to the works of both Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.

Mattel also said the film would have an A24-esque vibe, and while likely not R-rated, would attempt to tap into the anxieties of 30-something adults who grew up with Barney the Dinosaur.

Evidently this doesn't sound like a film that's trying to have its cake and eat it like Barbie, which nimbly managed to appeal to kids and adults while both critiquing Mattel and making them a shedload of money.

Nobody was asking for an adult-skewing Barney movie and yet, it's certainly one of the most fascinatingly off-kilter films in development right now.