Elizabeth Banks is playing Ms. Frizzle in a live-action Magic School Bus movie
The yellow bus is going live-action, with the Pitch Perfect star behind the wheel. And it’s not even her first time playing a beloved ‘90s kids-TV character. Remember who she was in the Power Rangers movie?
The Magic School Bus is getting a live-action movie, and Ms. Frizzle is going to be played by a real human for the first time.
That human is Elizabeth Banks. She’s set to star as the wild-haired science teacher and produce the film, which just landed at Legendary Entertainment, the studio behind the Dune movies and A Minecraft Movie.
Wait, she’s done this before
Here’s the part longtime ‘90s kids will enjoy.
This isn’t Banks’s first trip into a beloved bit of ‘90s kids’ TV. Back in 2017, she played Rita Repulsa, the cackling villain, in the Power Rangers reboot movie. She went big, green, and gold as the bad guy in one nostalgia property.
Now she’s flipping to the other side, playing the most beloved teacher in ‘90s cartoons. Villain then, hero now. For a generation that grew up on both shows, watching the same actress hit both is a fun little full-circle moment.
What we actually know about the movie
Not a ton yet, so here’s the confirmed stuff.
The film is based on the Magic School Bus books by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, which turn 40 this year and have sold more than 90 million copies. Most people know it from the PBS cartoon that ran from 1994 to 1997, where Lily Tomlin voiced Ms. Frizzle.
Directing is Rob Letterman, who made Detective Pikachu and the 2015 Goosebumps movie with Jack Black. He’s writing the treatment too. No plot details, no release date, and no cast beyond Banks have been announced.
This has been stuck in a ditch for six years
The “back from the dead” part is the real story here.
Banks was first announced for this exact role back in 2020, when the project was set up at Universal. Then it just... sat there. Six years, no movie. The rights eventually lapsed at Universal, and Legendary picked them up to try again.
So this isn’t a brand-new idea catching fire. It’s an old idea getting a second life, with the same star still attached after half a decade in limbo. That’s actually a decent sign. Banks clearly still wants to make it, and now there’s a studio and a director to make it happen.
The hard part nobody’s talking about yet
Here’s the question hanging over the whole thing.
The Magic School Bus works as a cartoon for one reason: the bus turns into a spaceship, then a submarine, then shrinks down and flies through a kid’s bloodstream. In animation, that’s easy and delightful. In live-action, that’s a mountain of expensive visual effects, and it can tip into uncanny fast if it’s not done right.
That’s probably why they hired Letterman. Detective Pikachu pulled off the tricky job of making a cartoon creature look real in a live-action world without being creepy. If anyone’s got a shot at making a live-action shape-shifting magic bus feel fun instead of weird, it’s the guy who already did it with Pikachu.
For now, it’s early days. But the bus is back, Ms. Frizzle has a face, and the actress driving has already proven she can play a ‘90s icon.
As the Friz herself would say: take chances, make mistakes, get messy.
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Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
Hat Tips:
Variety (June 23, 2026), verified for Legendary acquiring the rights from Universal, Rob Letterman writing and directing, the producer lineup, and the franchise background
Deadline (June 23, 2026), verified for the 40th-anniversary and 90-million-books figures, the Universal rights lapse, Letterman’s Goosebumps connection, and Banks’s recent projects
The Hollywood Reporter (June 23, 2026), verified for Banks attached to star and produce, the Brownstone/Marc Platt/Legendary producers, and the 2020 Universal origin
Power Rangers (2017) records, verified for Elizabeth Banks playing Rita Repulsa in the Lionsgate reboot