Just last month it was officially announced that Sabrina Carpenter will be switching out her espressos for Mad Hatter tea parties, as she is set to star in and produce a brand-new Alice in Wonderland musical from Universal Pictures. The film is to be directed by Lorene Scafaria, known for 2019 comedy Hustlers, and also has Wicked and La La Land producer Marc Platt on board for the project.  

Some may remember that a previous iteration of this project was acquired by Netflix in 2020 after Carpenter herself pitched the idea of an ‘Alice’ musical, although never coming to fruition, as Variety reports. However, post-Short n’ Sweet stardom, fans are excited that this project will finally see the light of day after a very busy couple of years for the ‘Espresso’ singer. 

In terms of any further details on the production, very little has been announced besides Carpenter’s involvement. It is also not yet confirmed if Carpenter herself will actually be playing our main girl, Alice, although, as Rolling Stone has pointed out, she has previously referenced the part as ‘one of [her] dream roles’, and has named the beloved 1951 Disney animation her favourite film. 

In this case, I would imagine she will be playing a slightly aged-up version of Alice, similarly to Tim Burton’s 2010 film, the most recent adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s novel. However, given Carpenter’s evident enthusiasm for Carroll’s absurd and whimsical tale, I do not doubt we will be seeing a new spin on the story in this musical adapation, hopefully imbued with Carpenter’s bubbly and playful charisma, even if she is not set to play the central role. 

This will also be Carpenter’s major studio debut and, excitingly, her first return to acting in a few years after beginning her career as a child actor on the Disney channel. Her most recent supporting roles were in Netflix’s Tall Girl and the 2018 adaptation of Angie Thomas’ novel The Hate U Give. (BBC News)

Given the project is only in its early stages, we may have a while to wait until we get to take this trip down the rabbit hole with Sabrina Carpenter. However, I very much doubt this new musical film will be shy of success, particularly following the mass appeal for magical-land musicals generated by Wicked’s recent smash-hit screen adaptations. 

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