Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter Join Tom Holland’s Fred Astaire Film

The long-awaited Fred Astaire project has taken another step towards the screen, with Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter joining Tom Holland in the untitled film.

Tom Holland has been attached to the story of Fred Astaire for several years. Now, the project is beginning to take a more defined shape, with Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter joining Holland for a film that looks back to one of Hollywood's most enduring performers, and to the family and creative partnerships that helped shape his career.

Qualley will play Adele Astaire, Fred's older sister and his original dance partner, while Carpenter has been cast as Ginger Rogers, the actress and dancer whose partnership with Astaire became one of the defining screen collaborations of Hollywood's golden age. Holland will portray Astaire himself. The casting was reported by Deadline and subsequently confirmed by multiple entertainment publications.

Directed by Paul King, the filmmaker behind Paddington and Wonka, the film is based on Kathleen Riley's book The Astaires: Fred & Adele. King has co-written the screenplay with Steven Levenson, with Amy Pascal and Rachel O'Connor among the producers and Holland producing through his Billy17 banner. Fred Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, is also supporting the project, while her son Tyler McKenzie is serving as a consultant and co-producer.

What makes the project particularly interesting is that the story appears likely to give considerably more attention to Adele Astaire than a conventional Fred Astaire biopic might. Before Fred became a defining figure of American cinema, he and Adele were a hugely successful performing partnership, working together on Broadway and in London's West End.

Adele eventually stepped away from performing after marrying Lord Charles Cavendish, while Fred continued towards Hollywood and became one of the most influential dancers and musical performers in film history. King's film is therefore not simply a story about a movie star at the height of his fame. It is also an attempt to revisit the relationship between a brother and sister whose professional partnership helped establish the foundation for what came later.

That distinction matters because very little visual material survives of Adele's dancing. King has specifically highlighted the challenge of bringing her story back to life, noting that no footage of her dancing survives.

For Margaret Qualley, the role is another intriguing addition to an increasingly varied filmography. A classically trained dancer, Qualley brings a background in movement to a character whose professional life was built around dance. Her recent work has also placed her firmly among a generation of performers moving between independent cinema, major productions and awards-focused projects.

Carpenter's casting is arguably the most unexpected piece of the announcement. Primarily known around the world as a pop star, she will now take on one of the most recognisable female roles in American dance history.

Ginger Rogers and Astaire first appeared together in Flying Down to Rio in 1933 before becoming one of cinema's most famous partnerships. Their subsequent films turned dance sequences into major cinematic events and helped establish a screen language that continues to influence performers and filmmakers decades later.

For Carpenter, the role represents a particularly significant move beyond music. Her recent career has already begun crossing into film and television, but playing Rogers places her inside one of the most recognisable chapters of classic Hollywood.

Holland, meanwhile, has an obvious connection to the role. Before becoming globally known as Spider-Man, he spent several years performing as Billy Elliot on London's West End. That experience gives the actor considerably more dance and stage experience than might initially be expected from a modern Hollywood leading man. Holland has previously spoken about wanting Astaire's dance sequences to retain the discipline and continuous movement associated with the performer's original work.

The project also arrives at an interesting point in Holland's career. He has become one of Hollywood's most recognisable young leading men through the Spider-Man franchise, while his recent filmography has increasingly moved between blockbuster cinema and more ambitious projects.

There is still no announced release date for the Astaire film, and its title remains under wraps. What is clear, however, is that the casting has transformed a long-discussed project into something considerably more tangible.

And perhaps that is what makes this particular Hollywood announcement so appealing. At a time when studios are increasingly drawn towards established franchises, the Fred Astaire project is looking backwards rather than forwards — but not simply for nostalgia.

It is returning to a period when performance itself was the spectacle, when a dance sequence could carry the emotional weight of an entire film, and when Fred and Adele Astaire, followed later by Fred and Ginger Rogers, helped establish a cinematic vocabulary that remains instantly recognisable.

With Holland, Qualley and Carpenter now assembled, one of Hollywood's most familiar names is about to be seen through a new generation.