Quinta Brunson is set to develop and star as Betty Boop in a feature film adaptation built around one of animation’s most enduring characters. The project is currently in development, and Brunson’s company, Fifth Chance Productions, is working with Mark Fleischer and Fleischer Studios on the film.
The movie will trace Betty Boop’s origin and evolution through the perspective of her creator, Max Fleischer, and examine the relationship between the two as he navigates creative and commercial pressures. Mark Fleischer, Max Fleischer’s grandson, is part of the project, which is overseen by Fifth Chance’s head of creative affairs, Erin Wehrenberg. The film would give Betty Boop her first theatrical motion picture appearance in a starring role since the 1930s.
Brunson said Betty Boop is one of the country’s most beloved cartoon characters, while still remaining pleasantly niche. She called the character’s influence quiet but undeniable across nearly a century, and said she saw a deeper story after meeting with Erin Wehrenberg and Mark Fleischer and learning more about Max Fleischer’s creation. Brunson said the project could be explored in a way that feels refreshing, subversive and timeless, much like Betty herself.
Betty Boop was created by Max Fleischer in 1930 and appeared in more than 100 cartoons during her original run. The character became the first and only animated independent female movie superstar, and her return to a starring theatrical feature would revive a figure who helped define an early era of animation. The plan to anchor the film in Max Fleischer’s point of view also gives the project a built-in conflict: the same pressures that helped shape Betty’s rise are now part of the story being told about her.
Brunson’s involvement arrives as her profile continues to rise after Abbott Elementary, the ABC comedy she created. She became the first solo Black woman to win the Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series, later won outstanding lead comedy actress for Season 2, and was the first solo Black woman to earn three Emmy nominations in a single year in the comedy category. The Betty Boop project now adds a classic studio-era character to a career that has already turned Brunson into one of television’s most closely watched creative voices.
