May 20, 2026
Public domain/Kevork Djansezia via Imagn Images
Quinta Brunson is making a new movie about the cartoon character Betty Boop from the perspective of her creator Max Fleischer.
Quinta Brunson is trading her teacher's lanyard and sensible skirt for a garter and mini dress.
The "Abbott Elementary" creator will develop and star in a new movie about Betty Boop, according to Variety. It'll be the cartoon flapper's first leading film role in nearly a century, and first big screen role of any kind since her cameo in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
Brunson's company Fifth Chance Productions is collaborating with Mark Fleischer, the grandson of Betty Boop creator Max Fleischer, and Fleischer Studios. Max will serve as a meta framing device for the movie, which follows Betty Boop's rise to '30s stardom through the eyes of her creator.
Erin Wehrenberg, the head of creative affairs at Fifth Chance Productions, will oversee the project, which does not yet have a release date.
"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 animated character made her first appearance in 1930 and starred in a series of hit shorts that ran before releases by Paramount Pictures, including Popeye the Sailor Man's first cartoon. She unofficially retired at the end of the decade after a bizarre housewife makeover. Since then, she appeared in a pair of '80s television specials and, more recently, the Nintendo DS video game "Betty Boop's Double Shift." She was also the subject of 2025 Broadway show "Boop! The Musical" and the cult favorite comic "Mr. Boop."
The flapper is likely to appear in a lot more projects in the near future, since the character entered the public domain this year, which automatically happens 95 years after publication. Betty is already slated to appear in two upcoming horror movies, one starring her old friend Popeye.
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