Sabrina Carpenter is headed to the movies. The pop star will lead her first major studio feature with a new musical at Universal Pictures.
The project is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s trippy, picaresque novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” which is in the public domain. Lorene Scafaria is on board to write and direct.
Along with starring, Carpenter will produce the untitled project, along with Marc Platt through his Universal-based Marc Platt Productions. Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton are also producing through Alloy Entertainment.
The project comes just a week after Carpenter earned six Grammy nominations for her seventh studio album “Man’s Best Friend,” including album of the year, record of the year and song of the year.
Carpenter is no stranger to screen-acting, with credits including supporting roles in Netflix’s “Tall Girl” movies and the drama “The Hate U Give.” But she has largely focused on music in more recent years. This new musical will be Carpenter’s first feature credit since the massive commercial success and Grammy acclaim for her 2024 album “Short n’ Sweet.”
Sources close to the deal share that Carpenter first approached Universal with the project in 2024. Scafaria came on board as writer and director as the concept evolved.
Scafaria last directed on HBO’s “I Love L.A.” and helmed episodes of “Succession.” She wrote and directed the original R-rated thriller “Hustlers,” which earned more than $100 million at the North American box office in 2019. Other writer-director credits include the comedies “The Meddler” and “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.” Upcoming, Scafaria will direct the A24 thriller “Jonty,” starring Jesse Plemons and Cole Escola.
Notably, Netflix had previously acquired a feature pitch for an “Alice in Wonderland” musical from Carpenter’s At Last Productions banner. That deal was announced in 2020, pre-dating Carpenter’s recent rise as one of pop music’s biggest global acts. The project never came to fruition.
Universal’s senior VP or production development Ryan Jones and director of production development Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project. Katie McNicol will oversee for Marc Platt Productions.
Carpenter is represented by Bill Perlman and Darci Price at Foundation Media Partners; Janelle Lopez Genzink, Amy Davidson & Merce Jessor at Volara Management; Stephanie Ramsey at Paradigm Talent; and Lede Company. Scafaria is represented by UTA, Narrative and Dern Weber.
Source: Variety
--Agencies
