Pop megastar Sabrina Carpenter is set to star in and produce yet another adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for Universal Pictures.
Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers) is set to write and direct the live-action feature, with Marc Platt, who produced both the Broadway and screen productions of Wicked, on board as producer along with Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton of Alloy Entertainment.
The story was previously adapted as a Disney animated movie in 1951, and Tim Burton's 2010 live-action version starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Carpenter's role is not mentioned in THR's report, but we assume she will play Alice.
This latest version is described as a “modern-day” take set at a music festival called “Wonderland.”
Though Carpenter will obviously be best known for her career as a singer/songwriter, she actually started out as an actress and has appeared in the likes of Adventures in Babysitting (2016), The Hate U Give (2018), The Short History of the Long Road (2019), Clouds (2020), Emergency (2022), and Netflix's Tall Girl movies. She also played Cady Heron in the Broadway musical Mean Girls (2020).
Earlier this year, a rumor did the rounds that Carpenter, who recently earned six nominations for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, including album of the year and best pop vocal album for “Man’s Best Friend,” was in line to play the lead in Disney's live-action Tangled movie. Though she might well have been in the running, nothing ever came of it (the project still hasn't cast its Rapunzel).
We have also heard that she has met with Marvel Studios about a potential role.
Carpenter is believed to have approached Universal about the new Alice in Wonderland movie 2024, with Scafaria coming on board late on.
In addition to Hustlers, Scafaria has helmed episodes of HBO’s I Love L.A. and Succession, as well as comedies The Meddler and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Next up, she will direct A24 thriller Jonty starring Jesse Plemons and Cole Escola.
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland follows a young girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a surreal world filled with bizarre creatures and nonsensical events. There, she encounters characters like the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the Queen of Hearts, and experiences absurd adventures like a mad tea party and a game of croquet with live animals. Alice grapples with confusing and disorienting situations, including involuntary changes in her size, which ultimately lead to her waking up from a dream."