You probably remember the photos from the eighties. Michael Jackson, the biggest star on the planet, wandering around with a baby chimpanzee dressed in matching overalls. That was Bubbles. For years, he was a fixture of tabloid culture, a literal "party animal" who reportedly drank tea with the mayor of Osaka and had his own agent. But what happened to the Bubbles the chimp movie? It was supposed to be a groundbreaking, stop-motion masterpiece that told the story of the King of Pop from the perspective of his primate companion.
Then, it just vanished.
Honestly, the story of why this movie died is almost as strange as the script itself. It wasn’t just a "creative differences" thing. It was a perfect storm of radioactive celebrity scandals, overbooked directors, and a streaming giant getting cold feet at the exact moment the public’s perception of Michael Jackson shifted forever.
The Script Everyone in Hollywood Wanted
Back in 2015, a writer named Isaac Adamson did something brave. He wrote a script called Bubbles. It wasn't a standard biopic. It wasn't even a human story. It was a screenplay told entirely by the chimp.
The script topped the Black List that year. For those who aren't industry nerds, the Black List is the annual tally of the most-liked unproduced scripts in Hollywood. Producers loved it because it was weird. It was experimental. It treated Bubbles like a Shakespearean narrator trying to navigate the "complex jungle" of human fame.
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Adamson didn't want to write a dry history of the Jackson family. He wanted to look at the eccentricity of Neverland through the eyes of someone—or something—that didn't understand why humans acted the way they did. It was brilliant. It was also, as many realized later, incredibly risky.
Taika Waititi and the $20 Million Netflix Deal
In 2017, the project looked like a sure thing. Netflix swooped in at the Cannes Film Festival and dropped a reported $20 million to secure the rights. They weren't just buying a script; they were buying a vision.
They brought on Taika Waititi to direct. This was right as Waititi was becoming a household name with Thor: Ragnarok. He was the "it" guy. His quirky, heartfelt style seemed like the only way to pull off a movie about a talking chimp without it being terrifying or cheesy. He was set to co-direct with Mark Gustafson, the stop-motion genius who eventually worked on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
Waititi’s take was fascinating. He explicitly said the Bubbles the chimp movie wasn't really about Michael Jackson. He called it a "fascinating journey" about an animal trying to make sense of the world. He wanted to use the same hyper-realistic stop-motion style seen in Anomalisa.
Work actually started. Puppets were being built. Animation tests were happening at Starburns Industries. People moved their entire lives to Los Angeles to work on this thing.
Why the Bubbles the Chimp Movie Fell Apart
So, what went wrong? Two things happened in 2019 that basically nuked the production from orbit.
First, Taika Waititi got too busy. He was attached to a live-action Akira remake, he had Jojo Rabbit coming out, and Marvel was knocking on his door again. He simply didn't have the "bandwidth," as the industry types say. When the big-name director leaves, the financiers start sweating.
But the real "nail in the coffin" wasn't a scheduling conflict. It was the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
When that documentary aired, it changed the conversation around Michael Jackson’s legacy overnight. Suddenly, a whimsical, stop-motion movie set in the inner circle of Neverland Ranch didn't feel like a fun, quirky indie project anymore. It felt like a PR nightmare. Netflix realized that even if the movie was technically about the chimp, the "shadow of Michael" (as many critics put it) would be too dark to ignore.
They pulled the plug. The crew was laid off. The puppets were likely boxed up and put in a warehouse somewhere. Just like that, the most anticipated script in Hollywood became a "ghost project."
Where is the Real Bubbles Now?
If you're worried about the actual primate, don't be. Bubbles is actually still alive. He’s 42 years old as of 2026, which is quite a feat for a chimp.
He doesn't live in a mansion anymore. Since 2005, he’s been a resident at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida. He’s the alpha of his group. He spends his days painting—which he supposedly loves—and listening to flute music. He’s huge now, weighing about 185 pounds, a far cry from the tiny creature in the red sweater we saw in the eighties.
The sanctuary says he’s actually quite shy. He hates cameras. If he sees someone trying to take his picture, he’ll often turn his back or throw sand. You can't really blame him; he spent the first two decades of his life being stared at by the entire world.
Can You Still Read the Story?
While the Bubbles the chimp movie might never hit theaters, the script is still out there. You can find copies of Isaac Adamson’s screenplay on various screenwriting forums and the original Black List archives. It’s worth a read if you want to see what could have been a truly "once-in-a-generation" piece of cinema.
The project serves as a weird reminder of how fast Hollywood moves. One day you’re the $20 million darling of Cannes, and the next, your subject matter is too "radioactive" to touch.
If you want to support the real-life inspiration behind the film, the best thing you can do isn't looking for a trailer that doesn't exist. It’s visiting the Center for Great Apes website. They rely on donations to keep Bubbles and his friends fed and happy in their retirement. You can even "adopt" him symbolically to help cover the $30,000-a-year cost of his care. It’s a much better ending for him than a Hollywood movie anyway.