If you’re already sad about the era of Wicked coming to an end, fear not. Sabrina Carpenter looks set to be the next pop star to take up Ariana Grande’s mantle and star in a movie musical by way of Universal Pictures.
The Man’s Best Friend singer is reportedly also set to produce this musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with Lorene Scafaria signed to write and direct.
The project has actually been in the works for some time. Netflix announced back in 2020 that they had signed an original feature named Alice that would star Carpenter and would be produced under her At Last Productions banner.
While Carpenter has been in the spotlight since she was 10 years old, it wasn’t until her break-out hit Espresso became the song of the summer in 2024 that she became an international sensation.
The former Disney Channel star is still touring her sixth studio album Short ‘n’ Sweet to sold-out crowds, and still found time to write and put out her seventh album. Titled Man’s Best Friend, it just scooped Carpenter six Grammy award nominations.
There’s still no word on who exactly the star will play in the Alice in Wonderland musical, but there are several in the zany Victorian’s children’s book that an actress of her comedic calibre could play.
With her long golden locks and pint-sized stature, Carpenter would make for a fine Alice. But the tailored outfit she wore to the Met Gala earlier this year has more than a hint of the Mad Hatter about it.
Given Carpenter’s recent successes combined with the box office hit that was and will be Wicked and Wicked: For Good, another pop star-fronted movie musical seems like a slam dunk for Universal.
Several pop icons have turned to musical cinema recently. Lady Gaga bagged an Academy Award for her work on A Star Is Born, while Grande is tipped for another Oscar’s nomination as she reprises the role of Glinda in Wicked.
Charli xcx is also working on numerous film projects, including writing the music for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Infamously, Taylor Swift has also made a foray into Hollywood with the movie musical Cats, although the less said about that eldritch horror of feline CGI car crash the better.
There have been multiple cinematic adaptations of Alice in Wonderland over the years, from the wholesome Disney animation of 1951 to the horny 1979 production of Alice in Wonderland: An X-rated Musical Fantasy, where the Queen of Hearts’ trial turns into an orgy.
Tim Burton was the last director to take on the Carroll classic, casting a 19-year-old Mia Wasikowska as Alice alongside Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter as the warring White and Red Queens.
