Sabrina Carpenter Is Making an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Movie

Sabrina Carpenter is stepping back into acting. 

After putting Hollywood on pause to become a pop star, Carpenter is returning to film in a major way by producing and co-starring in a new movie musical inspired by Alice in Wonderland, The Hollywood Reporter writes.

It marks her first-ever lead role in a feature film… and honestly, the casting feels almost too on the nose. A girl whose entire brand is chaos and sparkly? Sounds familiar. 

Carpenter is said to have pitched the concept herself to Universal Pictures last year and has been shepherding the project ever since. 

Lorene Scafaria will write and direct. Scafaria is known for projects like Hustlers, The Meddler, and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Also on board is  producer Marc Platt, whose resume includes La La Land, Wicked, and basically every musical your theater-kid friend won’t stop referencing.

While plot details remain under wraps, the source material is pretty standard. Lewis Carroll’s Victorian fantasy about a girl falling into a world of caterpillars, queens, and philosophical rabbits has already been spawned into a 1951 Disney movie, a Tim Burton movie, and about 40 million Halloween costumes. 

And Sabrina’s joining a very intentional lineage. Pop girls are deep in their fantasy-era pipeline over the last couple years. Ariana Grande went full Glinda with Wicked. Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish lent their sparkle to Barbie. Beyoncé literally gave us The Lion King: The Gift.

For Sabrina, a showman who thrives on camp and color, Alice is definitely a custom-built world for her to command.