Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter have joined Tom Holland in the Spider-Man star’s next project: the untitled Fred Astaire biopic in which Holland will portray the iconic actor and dancer of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
The development comes nearly five years after Holland first revealed he would be leading the project.
Margaret Qualley will be playing Fred’s older sister Adele Astaire, who was a major star on Broadway and London’s West End with her brother, and Sabrina Carpenter will be playing Ginger Rogers, Fred’s co-star and dance partner in a whopping ten films.
Paul King will direct the film. It is being produced by Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor on behalf of Pascal Pictures, Ben Holden and Josh Hyams on behalf of Lightbulb Pictures and Tom Holland on behalf of Billy17. Executive Producers are Harry Holland and Will South on behalf of Billy17, Will Clarke and Andy Mayson on behalf Altitude Films and Steven Levenson. Ava Astaire McKenzie lends her support to the project. Her son, Tyler McKenzie, serves as a consultant and co-producer.
“I am thrilled and honored to have been entrusted with telling the story of Fred Astaire and his original dance partner — his big sister Adele — to the big screen,” King said. “Fred left a timeless legacy of dance on film, most famously in his collaborations with Ginger Rogers, while Adele’s work has been lost to history; indeed, no footage of her dancing survives. The cinematic challenge of bringing to life these icons of the 20th century is one that I could not imagine without Tom Holland, Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter by my side.”
Levenson and King wrote the script, based on the book The Astaires: Fred & Adele by Kathleen Riley. Riley serves as a script and story consultant.
“I’m delighted to support this endeavor to celebrate the extraordinary careers and enduring legacy of my father and aunt, who were among the biggest musical stars of their era,” Astaire McKenzie said. “With Kathleen Riley’s seminal biography as its foundation and the creative team in place, the story of their partnership both on and off the stage is in the best care.”
Qualley is coming off of The Dog Stars, in which she starred alongside Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce. She made her debut on HBO’s The Leftovers. Last year, she earned a Golden Globe nomination for The Substance, opposite Demi Moore, which received multiple Oscar nominations including Best Picture. She received Emmy nominations for her roles in FX’s Fosse/Verdon and Netflix’s Maid. She trained as a ballet dancer, earning an apprenticeship at the American Ballet Theatre and studied at New York’s Professional Children’s School, before turning to acting full-time.
Two-time Grammy-winning superstar Carpenter most recently received her first Primetime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category recognizing her work as an EP and performer on The Muppet Show. Prior to singing, she acted in the Disney sitcom Girl Meets World, the teen coming-of-age drama The Hate U Give, and the Netflix film Tall Girl.
Holland began his career as a dancer on the West End stage, where he played the titular role from 2008-10 in the dance-driven musical about a boy born to dance, Billy Elliot The Musical, written by Lee Hall. Since then, he has been acting in the Spider-Man franchise, where Spider-Man: Brand New Day is breaking box office records with a worldwide gross of more than $2 billion. He was also in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which earned critical acclaim and $1.72 billion.
This is an interesting, yet somewhat fitting cast for sure.
