Quinta Brunson will develop and star as Betty Boop in a feature film, marking the cartoon icon’s first theatrical starring role since the 1930s, Variety first reported Wednesday. Brunson’s company, Fifth Chance Productions, has partnered with Fleischer Studios and Mark Fleischer, grandson of Betty Boop creator Max Fleischer, on the project, which is in development and overseen by Fifth Chance’s head of creative affairs, Erin Wehrenberg.
The film won’t be a straightforward cartoon adaptation. According to Variety, it will trace Betty Boop’s origin and evolution through the eyes of Max Fleischer, the animator who created her in 1930, examining the relationship between the artist and his creation as the character takes on a life of her own and as Fleischer reckons with the creative and commercial pressures of building one of the first animated icons. Brunson is attached as both star and producer, though she has not confirmed whether she will play Betty Boop in live action, voice the role, or both.
“Betty Boop is one of our nation’s most beloved cartoon characters, yet somehow still remains pleasantly niche,” Brunson said in a statement. “She has had a quiet but undeniable impact on culture for nearly a century. After Erin and I met with Mark and learned more about his grandfather’s creation of Betty, I realized there was a much deeper story to tell. One that could be explored in a way that feels refreshing, subversive, and timeless, much like Betty herself.”
The timing isn’t an accident. The first Betty Boop cartoon, 1930’s “Dizzy Dishes,” entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, opening the door for new takes on the character’s earliest incarnation. Created by Max Fleischer, Betty Boop appeared in more than 100 cartoons during her original run, evolving from a poodle-eared nightclub singer into the fully human Jazz Age flapper recognized worldwide. She was toned down in the mid-1930s under the Hays Code and has not led a theatrical motion picture since.
Mark Fleischer, who serves as chairman and CEO of Fleischer Studios, said the pitch won him over fast. “When Quinta first approached me with the unique concept of a movie about the relationship of my grandfather, Max Fleischer, and his creation, Betty Boop, I was breathtaken,” he said in a statement. “Quinta so embodies Betty’s love of life, intelligence, humor, sassiness and compassion that the relationship between her as Betty and Max burst into life at its mere mention.”
The setup invites the obvious comparison. Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie turned a nearly century-old female character into a $1.4 billion global hit with “Barbie” in 2023, and Brunson, who built ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” into one of network television’s defining comedies, fits the same mold of a creator-star reframing a legacy character through a contemporary lens. Brunson is the first solo Black woman to win the Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series, and she later won outstanding lead actress in a comedy for “Abbott Elementary” Season 2.
Betty Boop has stayed commercially active even without a screen vehicle. She anchored the Broadway musical “BOOP!,” which opened in 2025, and her licensing footprint runs across fashion, beauty and collectibles through Fleischer Studios’ worldwide agency, Global Icons. No director, screenwriter, studio distributor or release window has been announced for the feature.
