Get ready for a new field trip.
A live-action film adaptation of The Magic School Bus is coming to the big screen from Legendary Entertainment and Scholastic Entertainment, ABC Audio has confirmed.
Elizabeth Banks to star as Ms. Frizzle in live-action ‘The Magic School Bus’ film
Jun 23, 2026 | 3:00 PM
Elizabeth Banks is taking on the role of everyone’s favorite teacher, Ms. Frizzle. She will also produce the film. Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman will write the treatment and helm the movie, which will be based on the book series created by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen.
The Magic School Bus celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026. It started off as a book series, which currently has over 90 million books in print. It then expanded to TV with the original PBS animated series that starred Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle. That series aired from 1994 to 1997 in more than 100 countries, according to a press release.
A newer TV adaptation of the story, called The Magic School Bus: Rides Again, aired from 2017 to 2021 on Netflix. It starred Kate McKinnon as Ms. Frizzle’s younger sister, Ms. Fiona Felicity Frizzle.
Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman will produce the new film for Scholastic; Banks, Max Handelman and Alison Small will produce it for Brownstone Productions; Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce for Marc Platt Productions; and Mary Parent, Ali Mendes and Cale Boyter are set to produce the movie for Legendary.
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