Ava DuVernay To Direct Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time”

In a story from SlashFilm, one time MCU director hopeful Ava DuVernay has still managed to find a way to work within the Disney family and has been selected to direct the children’s science fantasy work A Wrinkle in Time, which will be based on the 1963 novel by Madeleine L’Engle.

DuVernay was on the short list to join up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but they were not able to come to an agreement at the time. Now with DuVernay onboard with this project the screenplay is being developed in such a way where it “emphasizes a strong female-driven narrative and creatively approaches the science fiction and world-building elements of the book.”

Here’s a brief book jacket synopsis of L’Engle’s novel:

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.”

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn’t know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L’Engle’s unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

Disney previously adapted A Wrinkle in Time into a 2004 TV movie that was generally panned by all who saw it. Even L’Engle did not care much for the TV movie, so there are a lot of hopes being pinned on DuVernay that she can turn out a much stronger and resonant film. Although given the TV movie it wouldn’t take much effort to put out a superior product.

DuVernay started her filmmaking career by directing some independent films, including Middle of Nowhere, which won at the Sundance Film Festival. Eventually she directed Selma and has risen to be one of the most sought out directors in Hollywood, and directing A Wrinkle in Time might be a carefully chosen career move as this will be her first foray in the area of science fiction/fantasy (she was originally in negotiations to direct Marvel’s Black Panther) as she’s currently in talks to also direct the science fiction thriller Intelligent Life over at DreamWorks, so moving into the science fiction/fantasy genre may be something she has been wanting to do.

Currently there is no projected release date for A Wrinkle in Time, but the script has been written by Jennifer Lee after she was picked for the job in 2014 (Disney has been developing this movie since 2010), and she was also the screenwriter and co-director of Frozen.
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Is A Wrinkle in Time a worthwhile book for adapting to the big screen, or should Disney possibly look at other family friendly properties? Are you even interested in seeing this once it is released?

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