The Flintstones is returning with a new live-action movie

Yabba dabba doo! The Flintstones are heading back to the big screen, and this time, Warner Bros. is going live-action again. Ryan Gosling and Jessie Henderson are set to produce the new movie through their Open Invite banner, with the project still in its very early stages.

There is no script yet, and Warner Bros. is currently looking for a screenwriter. The story is expected to focus on Bamm-Bamm Rubble, the famously strong son of Fred Flintstone's best friend, Barney. So yes, Bedrock is getting a reboot.

Yes to Bamm-Bamm getting his own movie

Plot details are being kept firmly under wraps, so we don't yet know what kind of prehistoric chaos Bamm-Bamm will be getting into. But putting him at the center is a choice fans are bound to appreciate.

For most people, “The Flintstones” means Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and Dino. Bamm-Bamm, meanwhile, is the little guy whose entire personality can basically be summarized as "tiny prehistoric child with absolutely ridiculous strength."

Turning that character into the focus of a new live-action story gives the franchise an opportunity to move beyond simply recreating the original Fred-and-Barney formula. Whether Hollywood can resist putting a modern reboot spin on everything remains to be seen.

The Flintstones have already done live-action

This is not the first time Bedrock has traded animation for real actors. Universal released a live-action The Flintstones in 1994, with John Goodman playing Fred Flintstone and Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble. Steven Spielberg served as executive producer. And somehow, the prehistoric family comedy became a major box-office hit, bringing in around $340 million worldwide.

The movie was followed by the 2000 prequel “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,” although Goodman, Moranis, and the rest of the original live-action cast didn't return. 

The franchise has been trying to make a comeback for years

The Flintstones have not exactly been sitting quietly in Bedrock. In 2021, Fox announced Bedrock, an animated sequel series that would have picked up with the Flintstones years after the original show. Elizabeth Banks was attached to voice Pebbles, the daughter of Fred and Wilma.

That project eventually died, leaving the franchise without its planned TV revival. Now, Warner Bros. is taking another swing but instead of another animated series, we're getting a live-action movie.

The original Flintstones are basically prehistoric TV royalty

Before all these reboots and sequels, The Flintstones was already a television landmark. The Hanna-Barbera animated series premiered on ABC in 1960 and ran for six seasons. It followed Fred and Wilma Flintstone, their daughter Pebbles, their pet dinosaur Dino, and their neighbors and best friends Barney and Betty Rubble.

The joke was to take ordinary modern suburban life – jobs, marriage, neighbors, family drama – and drop it into the Stone Age. Fred went to work at the quarry. Cars were powered by feet, appliances were operated by animals, and somehow, dinosaurs were perfectly normal household pets. It was “The Simpsons” before “The Simpsons” existed, and its influence on animated sitcoms is hard to ignore.

Now we wait for the Hollywood magic

There is a lot we don't know yet. There is no screenwriter attached nor have any stars been announced for the movie itself. There are also no plot details beyond the reported focus on Bamm-Bamm. And there's no release date.

For now, Ryan Gosling and Jessie Henderson are producing, while Warner Bros. searches for someone to actually turn this prehistoric premise into a screenplay.

Still, the idea of a modern live-action “Flintstones” movie starring Bamm-Bamm is intriguing enough to make you wonder what Bedrock will look like this time around. 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter