Margaret Qualley, Sabrina Carpenter Join Tom Holland's Untitled Fred Astaire Biopic

Los Angeles: Tom Holland has found his dance partners for Sony Pictures' untitled Fred Astaire biopic, with Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter joining the cast, the project's director Paul King announced. Qualley will play Adele Astaire, Fred's older sister and original dance partner on Broadway and London's West End, while Carpenter will portray Ginger Rogers, Astaire's frequent on-screen collaborator through a string of Hollywood films in the 1930s.

King, who directed "Paddington," is helming the project and co-wrote the script with Steven Levenson, adapting Kathleen Riley's biography "The Astaires: Fred & Adele." Riley is serving as a script and story consultant on the film. King expressed excitement at bringing the story of Fred and Adele Astaire to the screen, noting that while Fred's dance legacy was widely documented on film, no footage of Adele's performances survives. Fred Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, and her son Tyler McKenzie, who is also a consultant and co-producer, voiced their support for the project.

The casting comes nearly five years after Holland first announced he would lead the film, and arrives after a breakout summer for the actor, who starred in both "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and "The Odyssey."