‘A Wrinkle In Time’: Ava DuVernay To Direct Big Screen Fantasy Flick For Disney

A Wrinkle In Time is coming to the big screen, and Ava DuVernay has been announced as the director of the fantasy flick. The Selma director will be the head honcho for Disney’s movie adaption of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic bestselling story, according to Deadline. And DuVernay isn’t the first interesting name to become attached to the A Wrinkle In Time project, either. Frozen co-writer and director Jennifer Lee is actually penning the script for the movie version of A Wrinkle In Time. Lee told Variety that A Wrinkle In Time was her favorite book as a child, and she was drawn to the story’s strong female-driven narrative.

The A Wrinkle In Time gig is a huge one for DuVernay, a 43-year-old former publicist who proved she’s a force to be reckoned with when she produced the Oscar-nominated civil rights movie, Selma, back in 2014. There has been no word on casting or a release date for the new film version of A Wrinkle In Time, but the movie is slated to go into production later this year, so casting announcements should come soon.

A Wrinkle in Time was first published in 1963, and it made L’Engle a household name, a nice payback considering the manuscript was rejected dozens of time before it was finally published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The science fiction fantasy book followed the story of a trio of misfits who traveled through a fifth dimension in time and landed in mysterious worlds as they tried to find the missing government scientist father of Meg and Charles Wallace Murray.

The Newbery Award winning book was the first in L’Engel’s famous “Time Quartet” series, which later included the books “A Wind in the Door,” “Many Waters,” and “A Swiftly Tilting Planet.” But A Wrinkle In Time was by far the most famous of the tales, which is why it’s getting a movie adaption with DuVernay at the helm.

Of course, this won’t be the first time A Wrinkle In Time has been adapted. More than a decade before DuVernay was asked to work her magic on the story, the classic tale was adapted for a TV movie that starred Katie Stuart and Chris Potter. In another interesting move, Catherine Hand, who produced the 2003 TV movie adaption of the story, will work with DuVernay as a producer for the big screen movie.

While A Winkle In Time isn’t on currently on any banned book lists, the bestselling story has been deemed controversial in the past. According to MacMillan Publishing Co., A Wrinkle In Time has been challenged by various parenting and religious groups over the years, with some questioning its storyline about magic, crystal balls, and time travel, and others claiming that the book questions the idea of God.

Of course, A Wrinkle In Time came out decades before the Harry Potter series, so it’s almost funny to think of it as controversial now. In addition, some critics actually slammed the book for having a strong female protagonist (Meg Murray) in a science fiction novel, so it’s especially sweet that a strong woman like DuVernay is now attached to the movie version of the story.

Ava DuVernay is a hot director right now, and in addition to A Wrinkle In Time, she is also being considered to direct Steven Spielberg’s science fiction thriller, Intelligent Life. Lupita Nyong’o is reportedly in talks to star in the feature, so this would be another big one if DuVernay decides to take it on.

Take a look at a clip from the A Wrinkle In Time TV movie, and stay tuned for more on Ava DuVernay’s Disney directorial debut.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]