After a significant break from acting to focus on her thriving pop music career, Sabrina Carpenter is set to return to the big screen in her first leading role in a theatrical motion picture. She will star in a new musical film inspired by Lewis Carroll's classic novel, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," which is currently in the public domain. The untitled project is being developed by Universal Pictures, with Carpenter also taking on a producing role.

Lorene Scafaria is attached to write and direct the musical. Scafaria is known for helming and penning features such as "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," "The Meddler," and the critically acclaimed "Hustlers," which grossed over $100 million at the North American box office. Her television work includes episodes of HBO's "Succession," for which she received an Emmy nomination, and "I Love L.A." She is also slated to direct the upcoming A24 thriller "Jonty."

The film will be produced by Broadway and Hollywood veteran Marc Platt, through his Universal-based Marc Platt Productions. Platt has a strong track record with big-screen musicals, notably with the successful "Wicked" and its upcoming sequel, "Wicked: For Good." Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton will also produce through Alloy Entertainment. Sources close to the deal indicate that this project was Carpenter's brainchild; she initially approached Universal with the concept in 2024 and continues to guide its development as additional creatives join the team.

Carpenter's move to a leading film role follows a period of immense musical success. Her 2024 album, "Short n' Sweet," and its subsequent tour have propelled her to global superstardom, earning her 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. This musical marks her first feature film credit since the massive commercial acclaim of "Short n' Sweet."

While recently prioritizing music, Carpenter began her career as a child actor. Her screen debut was in a 2011 episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and she gained wider recognition with a supporting role in the Disney Channel sitcom "Girl Meets World." Her film credits include small parts in "Horns" and "The Hate U Give," as well as starring roles in TV and streaming original films such as a remake of "Adventures in Babysitting," the Netflix romantic comedy "Tall Girl" and its sequel, the comedy-drama "Emergency," and the dance film "Work It," which she also executive produced. She is also a seasoned voice actor, lending her talents to "Sofia the First" and "Milo Murphy's Law." Despite her busy music schedule, she has made several appearances on "Saturday Night Live," including its 50th-anniversary special, and hosted her own "A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter" variety special. She is also set to host "The Muppet Show," a new Disney+ special aimed at relaunching the classic variety series.

Interestingly, this isn't Carpenter's first foray into an "Alice in Wonderland" musical concept. Netflix had previously acquired a feature pitch for an "Alice in Wonderland" musical from Carpenter’s At Last Productions banner in 2020, but that project never materialized. Universal’s senior VP of production development Ryan Jones and director of production development Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the current project for the studio, with Katie McNicol overseeing for Marc Platt Productions.