Warner Bros develops live action Flintstones film with Ryan Gosling

MUMBAI: Yabba dabba doo, the Stone Age is making another comeback. Warner Bros. is developing a new live-action The Flintstones film, with Ryan Gosling and Jessie Henderson attached to produce it through their Open Invite banner.

The project is still in the early stages and does not yet have a screenwriter. While plot details remain under wraps, the story is expected to centre on Bamm-Bamm Rubble, the son of Fred Flintstone’s best friend, Barney Rubble.

The new film will revive one of animation’s most recognisable families for the big screen. The Flintstones began as an animated series from Hanna-Barbera Productions that premiered on ABC in 1960 and ran for six seasons.

Set in the Stone Age, the series followed Fred and Wilma Flintstone, their pet dinosaur Dino and neighbours Barney and Betty Rubble, mixing prehistoric living with decidedly modern domestic problems.

The franchise has already made the jump into live action once. Universal’s 1994 The Flintstones starred John Goodman as Fred Flintstone and Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble, with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer. The film earned $340 million worldwide and was followed by the 2000 prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, although the original cast did not return.

Warner Bros’ latest attempt also follows an earlier effort to extend the franchise on television. In 2021, Fox announced Bedrock, an animated sequel series that was to feature Elizabeth Banks voicing Fred and Wilma’s daughter Pebbles. The project was subsequently abandoned.

For now, the new Flintstones film remains firmly in development, with no release date or casting details beyond Gosling and Henderson’s producing roles announced.

Still, with Bamm-Bamm potentially taking centre stage, Warner Bros appears ready to give the prehistoric neighbourhood a new address and perhaps prove that some franchises really are rock-solid.