Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter have joined Tom Holland in Sony Pictures’ untitled Fred Astaire biopic. Qualley will play Adele Astaire, Fred’s older sister and first dance partner. Carpenter will play Ginger Rogers, the Hollywood partner who made Astaire a film star. The casting was confirmed on September 25, 2026, by multiple outlets including Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and Billboard. Paul King, who directed Paddington and Wonka, is directing the film. Production is scheduled to begin in January 2027.
The Roles Explained
Fred Astaire’s career had two defining partnerships. The first was with his sister Adele. The siblings performed together for nearly three decades, starting as a vaudeville act and moving to Broadway and London’s West End. Adele retired in 1932 to marry Lord Charles Cavendish. No footage of Adele dancing survives, which King called a unique challenge.
The second partnership was with Ginger Rogers. Astaire and Rogers made ten films together, starting with 1933’s Flying Down to Rio. Their run included Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936). Rogers won an Oscar for Kitty Foyle in 1940. She died in 1995.
“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 in a statement. “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 twentieth century is one that I could not imagine without Tom Holland, Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter by my side.”
Qualley and Carpenter’s Backgrounds
Margaret Qualley is a classically trained ballet dancer. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for The Substance and an Emmy nomination for Fosse/Verdon. She also starred in Netflix’s Maid. Qualley and Carpenter worked together earlier in 2026 on the music video for Carpenter’s single “House Tour” from the album Man’s Best Friend.
Sabrina Carpenter is known mainly as a pop star with two Grammy awards. She started as an actress on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World and appeared in films like The Hate U Give and Tall Girl. This role marks a return to acting after years focused on music. Carpenter’s retro-styled music videos and visuals have drawn from old Hollywood imagery, which fits the era of the film.
Tom Holland’s Dance Training
Tom Holland first revealed he would play Fred Astaire in 2021. He has a dance background from playing the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical on London’s West End from 2008 to 2010. Holland has said he wants to perform all of Astaire’s dance numbers himself, without doubles, and shoot them in single continuous takes the way Astaire insisted on filming them.
“I did my first few rehearsals recently, and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread because I’ve got so much work to do to try and do Fred proud,” Holland said on Good Morning America in July 2026. “I have a desire to use no doubles, to do all of the dancing, to shoot those dances in one shot how he would have done it.”
Holland also spoke about the sibling story at the center of the script. “The thing I love the most about the script at the minute is it’s the story of two siblings, and being a sibling and a brother is like a huge part of my life,” he said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
Source Material and Estate Support
The film is based on Kathleen Riley’s book The Astaires: Fred & Adele. King co-wrote the script with Steven Levenson, who wrote Fosse/Verdon and Tick, Tick… Boom! Riley is serving as a script and story consultant.
Fred Astaire’s daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, is supporting the project. Her son, Tyler McKenzie, is a consultant and co-producer.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
Production and Release Details
Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor are producing for Pascal Pictures. Holland is producing through his Billy17 banner. Ben Holden and Josh Hyams are producing for Lightbulb Pictures. Executive producers include Harry Holland, Will South, Will Clarke, Andy Mayson, and Steven Levenson.
Production is set to begin in January 2027. The film does not yet have a release date. The timeline points to a possible 2028 release, but Sony has not confirmed a window. The film will be distributed by Sony Pictures and will release in theaters worldwide, including the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and India.
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What the Film Covers
The biopic traces Fred and Adele Astaire’s path from a Midwestern vaudeville act to Broadway and the West End. Their partnership ended when Adele retired. Fred then moved to Hollywood and became a film star with Ginger Rogers. Fred Astaire appeared in more than 30 movie musicals over a career that spanned seven decades. He died in 1987 at age 88.
The film has been in development for over five years. Holland’s busy 2026 slate included Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. The Fred Astaire biopic is his next project.
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