Hollywood has announced another major reboot, this time bringing Lewis Carroll's classic tale back to the big screen as a musical starring pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter. The announcement, made in November 2025, confirms Carpenter will take the title role in what many are calling another unoriginal project from an industry struggling for fresh ideas.
Another Day, Another Reboot
Despite Sabrina Carpenter's considerable star power and proven acting credentials from roles in Tall Girl and The Hate U Give, the announcement has left many fans underwhelmed. The pop star, who rose to fame through Disney's Girl Meets World in 2014, reportedly pitched an Alice in Wonderland film back in 2020 as she was breaking away from Disney, but lacked the influence to get it greenlit at the time.
Now that Carpenter has both the star quality and production role to make it happen, critics question why she's chosen to revisit well-trodden ground rather than pursue more original projects. The singer has built a reputation for being confrontational through her album artwork and political statements during performances, making this safe choice particularly surprising.
Hollywood's Remake Fatigue Reaches Breaking Point
Audience patience with endless remakes and adaptations appears to be wearing thin across the entertainment industry. Recent projects including Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein, Emerald Fennel's Wuthering Heights adaptation featuring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, and the controversial Harry Potter TV series have all faced significant backlash from fans and critics alike.
Even Disney has reportedly slowed its relentless production of live-action remakes following disappointing performances like the recent Lilo and Stitch adaptation. The studio's 2016 version of The Jungle Book proved successful, but marked the beginning of cinema's descent into playing safe with familiar properties. The 2019 Lion King remake continued this worrying trend.
Lewis Carroll's work has been particularly over-mined in recent years. Tim Burton's live-action Alice in Wonderland in 2010 proved a massive commercial success, grossing over $1 billion (£762,391,000). However, the 2016 sequel saw interest plummet dramatically, earning only around $300 million (£263 million) and reportedly costing Disney $70 million (£61 million) in losses.
Can a Musical Adaptation Succeed Where Others Failed?
The decision to make this new version a musical represents both its greatest potential strength and most significant risk. The genre has suffered from a lack of originality in recent years, with Hollywood increasingly relying on existing intellectual property rather than creating new stories.
Recent musical adaptations provide mixed precedents for success. 2019's Cats became a notorious critical failure, while Joker 2 avoided the musical label as much as possible yet still flopped terribly. Mean Girls: The Musical achieved only middling box office results, failing to capture the magic of the 2004 cult classic.
Wicked stands as the notable exception, though its success stems from being a beloved stage show for over two decades before reaching cinema screens. The film also challenged existing character lore enough to avoid feeling like a straightforward remake.
This new Alice in Wonderland project risks following the path of Timothee Chalamet's Wonka, which avoided marketing itself as a musical while incorporating several major musical numbers. While that film achieved modest box office success, it has largely faded from cultural memory within just two years.
Lorene Scafaria, known for Hustlers and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, is set to write and direct the remake, suggesting a more direct approach might be taken. However, Scafaria's involvement with an edgier A24 project raises questions about whether her talents might be better utilised elsewhere.
For this adaptation to succeed where the 2016 sequel failed, it must differentiate itself significantly from both Burton's version and Disney's animated classic. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland contains the potential for a truly psychedelic musical adventure if the filmmakers dare to avoid playing safe.
As audiences face yet another remake, the pressure is on Sabrina Carpenter and the creative team to deliver something genuinely different and memorable rather than another forgettable addition to Hollywood's growing pile of recycled ideas.
