Imagine diving down a rabbit hole with a shot of espresso, and there's your superstar Sabrina Carpenter, ready to star and produce an untitled movie musical based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland for Universal Pictures. Lorene Scafaria, known for her crime masterpiece Hustlers with Jennifer Lopez, will pen and helm the feature, while Marc Platt, the musical-loving producer behind both the Broadway and screen productions of Wicked, will bring his expertise to the project. Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton of Alloy Entertainment, who have produced shows like Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, will also be producing.
Carroll's Victorian era story tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole (and, in the second novel, goes through a looking glass) to find herself in a fantastical and nonsensical world of talking and human-like animals. The story was brought to life in a Disney animated movie in 1951 and a billion-dollar-grossing live-action version directed by Tim Burton in 2010 with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.
While it's unclear what Carpenter is undertaking, sources say it's a passion project for the global pop star. She approached the studio about a year ago with specific ideas and a lookbook. As the concept evolved, producers and eventually Scafaria were added to the tea party.
Ryan Jones, senior vp of production development, and Jacqueline Garell, director of production development, are overseeing the project for the studio. Katie McNicol is shepherding the project for Marc Platt Productions.
Platt, whose credits range from Legally Blonde to La La Land, has Wicked: For Good, the second part of the Wicked film adaptation, releasing in theaters on November 21st. Carpenter 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" and song of the year, record of the year, best pop solo performance, and best music video for "Manchild." Her acting credits include movies like The Hate U Give and Emergency and the 2010s series Girl Meets World.
Scafaria directed the pilot as well as additional episodes of I Love LA, the HBO comedy series created by Rachel Sennott that premiered in November 2022. She also acts as an exec producer on the show and directed episodes of HBO's acclaimed drama Succession. Starting out as a screenwriter, she penned movies such as Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Hustlers, released in 2019, was lauded by many critics' groups and earned Scafaria a nomination for best director from the Independent Spirit Awards.
