SelmadirectorAva DuVernayis due to make the leap to blockbuster filmmaking in a big way. Following her stellar work on theMartin Luther King Jr.drama, DuVernay became one of the most highly sought after directors in Hollywood. While she entered preliminary talks to helm Marvel’sBlack Panther, she and the studio amicablydecided to part waysafter DuVernay realized the extent of the studio’s hand in making that particular feature. But now DuVernay has finally signed on to another film, and it’s a big one: Disney’s adaptation of the classic 1963Madeline L’EnglenovelA Wrinkle in Time.
We actually first heard word about DuVernay’s involvement with the picturea couple of weeks ago, when news broke that Disney was courting theMiddle of Nowherefilmmaker to take the helm. Now, after six months of courtship by the studio, Deadline reports that the deal has closed and DuVernay will be directing from a script byFrozenco-writer/co-directorJennifer Lee.
The first in a series of novels in the vein ofC.S. Lewis’Chronicles of Narnia,A Wrinkle in Timerevolves around a young girl whose government scientist father goes missing after working on a mysterious project. The subsequent search for her father takes her to alternate dimensions where she crosses paths with a variety of different creatures.
This is a massive project for DuVernay, who has shown a tremendous knack for character and POV in her previous features. And if you need proof that she knows her way around a set piece, look no further than the Edmund Pettus Bridge sequence inSelma. Here’s hoping she brings cinematographerBradford Youngalong to craft what could be the start of a major sci-fi/fantasy franchise.
But this isn’t the only movie DuVernay is considering as her next feature. Whlie theWrinkle in Timedeal is the first to close, she is also in negotiations to helm the sci-fi dramaIntelligent Life, which has Oscar-winnerLupita Nyong’oattached to starand tells of a U.N. worker in a department designed to represent humans in the event of first contact who falls for a mystery woman. That project has a script byJurassic WorldscribesColin TrevorrowandDerek Connolly, with Trevorrow andFrank Marshallproducing, andIntelligent LifeandA Wrinkle in Timeare not mutually exclusive—she may very well make both. Which will go first? One assumes Disney wants to get moving sooner rather than later, but whatever the case, I’m just happy DuVernay is getting the chance to make a large-scale feature.
