A Britney Spears biopic is officially in development. So who could portray the iconic pop star on the big screen?

On Aug. 1, Universal Pictures announced it secured the rights to the Spears’ bestselling 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, and Wicked director Jon M. Chu is set to direct the project, with Marc Platt producing.

“Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned,” Spears, 42, wrote in a post on X after the announcement.

Though no official casting decisions have been announced yet, the internet immediately began to run wild with speculation, as fans attempted to guess who would be cast as Spears.

Continue on for a list of stars who might be right to play the “…Baby One More Time” singer.

Sabrina Carpenter

Disney Channel actress-turned-musician Sabrina Carpenter was one of the first names that popped up for many fans when members of the “Britney Army” began debating who should play her in this upcoming biopic. She’s known for her role on Disney’s Girl Meets World and Netflix’s Tall Girl before solidifying herself as a full-time pop artist with the recent release of hit songs “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” The star, 25, has even covered one of Spears’ tracks before, performing “…Baby One More Time” during her 2023 “The Emails I Can’t Send Tour.”

Tate McRae

Singer, songwriter and dancer Tate McRae shares a few similarities with Spears — including that both of the women began their careers in show business as young kids (McRae on So You Think You Can Dance, lending her voice to kids’ cartoons and appearing in 2014’s Annie, while Spears made appearances on shows like the Mickey Mouse Club and Star Search).

McRae, 21, and Spears have even spoken about their love for each other before. In May 2024, Spears interviewed the “Greedy” singer for V Magazine, and the pair opened up about dance, performing live and where they each get their inspiration from (McRae confirmed that Spears is one of her biggest muses).

“You’re an incredible performer,” Spears told McRae in part in the interview, and the “exes” singer replied: “That means so much coming from you.”

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown holds a unique spot on this list — simply because the Stranger Things previously confirmed that playing Spears would be one of her dreams come true.

The Stranger Things star, 20, opened up about her aspirations to hopefully portray Spears during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2022, telling host Barrymore: “I want to play a real person and I think for me, Britney … [It] would be Britney Spears. I think her story, first of all, resonates with me.”

“Just growing up in the public eye watching her videos, watching interviews of how when she was younger. I mean, same thing with you,” the actress continued at the time. “I see the scramble for words [in her interviews] and I don’t know her, but when I look at pictures of her, I feel like I could tell her story in the right way and hers only.”

Sydney Sweeney

Though 26-year-old Sydney Sweeney is less musically inclined than some other stars on this list, many fans were excited about just how similar the Euphoria star and Spears look — and at her acting abilities for The Woman in Me’s more dramatic chapters.

Sweeney has been acting since she was a pre-teen, and has since taken over the big screen in movies like Everyone But You, Immaculate and Madame Web.

Bella Thorne
Known for her roles on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up alongside Zendaya and tons of recent indie films, Bella Thorne, 26, had some fans considering her for the role of Spears mainly for her looks as a blonde — and also for her candid social media posts that ring similar to Spears’.

Dove Cameron
Dove Cameron is yet another Disney Channel alum who some fans thought might make a good choice for the role of Spears, due to her background in acting, music and dance.

The star, 28, gained popularity when she starred as both title roles in Disney’s Liv and Maddie, and has since appeared in comedies and dramas, like ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., released music like her 2022 single “Boyfriend,” and has even starred in musical theater projects like Hairspray Live!, Clueless: The Musical and more.

Cameron has also spoken about her love for Spears, telling Access Hollywood in 2017 that she would love to meet the popstar.

“I love her. I mean, you can’t not love Britney,” Cameron said. “My favorite song of all time? Probably ‘Toxic.’ I also love like ‘Bombastic Love’ and some of her old stuff like ‘Cinderella.’ ”

Elle Fanning

Elle Fanning, 26, is recognizable for her dozens of A-list acting roles over the years, including on Hulu’s The Great — and she in 2022 she dressed up like Spears for Halloween.

In a red-hot Instagram post shared at the time, Fanning donned a green bra, shorts, a cape and headset microphone — as well as prop snake draped around her neck — to recreate Spears’ look at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards to perform “I’m A Slave 4 U.” She also sang in the 2018 film Teen Spirit.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh, 28, is more of a wildcard pick for the Britney Spears casting shortlist, but many fans think she has the acting chops — as proven by her roles in Oppenheimer, Midsommar, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and her superhero debut Black Widow — to pull off the role of Spears.

Pugh also shows off her singing voice in the 2023 film A Good Person.

Grace Van Dien
As another alum of Stranger Things — as well as TV and Netflix roles including the teen drama Greenhouse Academy, the role of Sharon Tate in Charlie Says and the NBC series The Village — Grace Van Dien, 27, has been brought up as a potential actress for the Spears biopic because of their similar blonde looks.

Madelyn Cline
Another candidate for the role of Spears is Madelyn Cline. The 26-year-old has garnered attention for her roles as Sarah Cameron on the Netflix teen drama series Outer Banks and as the hilarious influencer character Whiskey in the Knives Out sequel Glass Onion.