Meg Murry is a typical middle school student struggling with issues of self-worth who just wants to fit in. The daughter of two world-renowned physicists, she is intelligent and uniquely gifted, as is her younger brother, Charles Wallace, but Meg has yet to realize it for herself. Complicating matters is the mysterious disappearance of her father four years ago, which has left Meg devastated and her mother heartbroken, and while friends and faculty at school urge her to move on, Meg knows he is still alive. Before he vanished, Mr. Murry was tracking events in the cosmos when he discovered tessering, a wrinkling of time and space through which intergalactic travel is possible, but it is still an unproven theory, and one the scientific community regards with much skepticism.
One night, Charles Wallace, Meg, and a fellow classmate, Calvin, meet three otherworldly visitors who have traveled to Earth with an important message for Meg: Her father’s discovery is, in fact, an extraordinary accomplishment, but a darkness has infiltrated the universe and he is now in grave danger. Together they set off in search of Mr. Murry with Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Whatsit as their guides, tessering to worlds beyond their imagination and confronting the powerful, evil energy face-to-face. But in order to save her father, Meg must first overcome her own flaws and insecurities and harness the strength necessary to defeat the darkness…and it is a journey she must come to on her own.
Walt Disney Studios presents “A Wrinkle in Time,” directed by Emmy® winner and Oscar® and Golden Globe® nominee Ava DuVernay from a screenplay by Oscar-winner Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell based upon the beloved novel by Madeleine L’Engle. The film is produced by Jim Whitaker and Catherine Hand with Doug Merrifield and Adam Borba serving as executive producers, and starstwotime Academy Award® nominee Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which; Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy winner Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Whatsit; Emmy nominee Mindy Kaling as Mrs. Who; Storm Reid as Meg Murry; Levi Miller as Calvin; Deric McCabe as Charles Wallace; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Mrs. Murry; Michael Peña as Red; with two-time Emmy winner Zach Galifianakis as the Happy Medium and Emmy nominee Chris Pine as Mr. Murry. From Book to Screen When Madeleine L’Engle’s young adult novel “A Wrinkle in Time” was first published in 1962, it became an instant classic. The timeless story of a young girl searching the universe for her father enchanted countless readers around the world and spawned four additional books featuring the same characters known as L’Engle’s Time Quintet. In 1963 the book was awarded the Newbery Medal (as the most distinctive piece of work in children’s literature for that year), and its popularity has continued to grow since then. Today the book is available in 35 languages and has sold millions of copies around the world. Fifty years later, executives at Disney had been toying with the idea of bringing “A Wrinkle in Time” to the big screen when producer Jim Whitaker approached the studio about the property. Whitaker, whose production company is based on the Burbank lot and who has produced films for Disney including “Pete’s Dragon” and “The Finest Hours,” is a longtime fan of the book and felt strongly that an adaptation could work on a number of levels. The studio agreed and brought him on to produce. “’A Wrinkle in Time’ is an incredibly emotional journey, but it is set against a magnificent landscape and in a world that is beyond dramatic,” Whitaker says. “It is epic in its size and scope, but it is also deeply emotional and is entertaining and funny and an all-around great adventure.” Catherine Hand has been closely involved with “A Wrinkle in Time” for years and soon joined Whitaker as a producer. She met Madeleine L’Engle more than 30 years ago when Hand was working for legendary TV writer-producer Norman Lear and remained close with the author until her death in 2007 when L’Engle bequeathed the book’s rights to her. “We had marvelous conversations where I came to understand what the story really meant to her,” Hand explains. “I also gained a deeper understanding of many of the book’s different themes and came to appreciate how rich and textured it truly is.” Hand continues, “I first read the book around the time of the Kennedy assassination, and I remember adults around me saying that hope had died, which was a hard thing for a young girl to hear. The book gave me a sense of hope and courage and helped me to understand that while evil does exist, it can be overcome.” For the next two decades, Hand pursued a film adaptation. “Catherine knows the emotionality of the material and saw the potential for incredible visual effects, plus she came to the table with a great deal of knowledge from her relationship with Madeleine over many years,” says Whitaker. “This film would not exist without her stewardship.
” In 2014, the studio approached celebrated screenwriter Jennifer Lee (“Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”) about adapting L’Engle’s novel for the big screen, a prospect that thrilled her. “As a child, the book defied anything I had read at that point in my life in terms of imagination,” says Lee. “And it was my first introduction to a character like Meg—someone who is dynamic and flawed and unique, who goes through an extraordinary adventure and comes out stronger as a person.” The producers had no problem entrusting Lee with the material. “Jennifer wrote one of Disney’s biggest hits in recent years, ‘Frozen,’ and the themes and ideas in that film have similar qualities to what ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ offers,” says Whitaker. “’Frozen’ has heart, it has humor, it is an incredible epic adventure and it has this really personal story about a girl coming into her own, and that’s what this movie is about too, so Jennifer had all the ideal qualities.” “Jennifer knows how to write fully-rounded, winning characters,” continues Whitaker. “When you read a script of hers you feel like you want to be with these characters and you root for them to win, which, as a screenwriter, is hard to do. It’s like a very subtle craftsmanlike thing to always be able to make an audience feel like they’re on board with every character, no matter what.”
’A Wrinkle in Time’ is a book that pushes your imagination to the next level,” says Lee. “The book doesn’t follow a traditional film structure in any way. It’s very ethereal, it’s very spiritual and it gets in your head, and when you have that kind of a relationship with a book, it’s okay because that’s what is great about reading: your mind fills in the gaps with what you want to see. But with film I have to make choices.” She continues, “When I write about one of the planets visited by the children and describe what it looks like, there is a responsibility to try and evoke the same feelings from the book and to not limit what the book could do. Because this is Meg’s emotional journey, I have to get inside her head and interpret everything cinematically and in a way that’s just as evocative and just as emotional as it was in print.” One year later, a finished script in hand, discussions as to who should take the helm of such a singular property began. The studio wanted someone with the skills, creativity and passion to bring the story to life…someone with the ability to tell both an intimate story and one with substantial issues and themes...someone unexpected.
Ava DuVernay was that someone. A celebrated director with film credits including the Oscar®- nominated films “Selma” and “13TH” as well as the NAACP Image Award-winning television series “Queen Sugar,” DuVernay easily met their criteria, but when the studio first approached her she did not initially leap at the opportunity. It wasn’t until she sat down and read the screenplay that she began to visualize the story coming to life on screen. “The idea of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ really captured my imagination once I read the script,” DuVernay remembers. “As a woman, the story of a female heroine at the center of a spectacular journey really resonated with me.” She continues, “’A Wrinkle in Time’ is this beautiful stew of mystery, fantasy, adventure, science, romance, social commentary and spirituality. It’s not often that we see girls at the center of a story— and certainly not girls of color—amid all these different worlds and planets. It really is something out of my wildest imagination.” Charlotte Jones Voiklis, Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter, found DuVernay to be an exciting choice to direct, saying, “She represents so many firsts, as did my grandmother, and I think the two mirror each other beautifully. One of the things my grandmother would always say is that we can’t pretend evil doesn’t exist...we just need to give children the tools with which to fight it. Ava understands that as well, and goes about it with a great clarity of vision and empathy.” “Ava is a force of nature and willpower and vision, and that’s just a fact,” adds Whitaker. “She is grace in motion. She comes onto set and immediately puts everyone at ease and gracefully brings them to their best selves, and that’s what’s beautiful about working with her.” DuVernay knew the path ahead of her would be a challenging one, as it was important that the film not only capture the emotional story of a young girl’s journey but also the details that have meant so much to so many for so long. “While certain aspects of the story have been updated or tweaked to be more contemporary or cinematic, our goal was to capture Madeleine L’Engle’s intention with the story,” DuVernay says. “Hopefully the film will make book lovers feel the same way they felt when they first read it, even if it looks a bit different because my job is to super-size their memories and push them further.” Thus began a lengthy process where the filmmakers researched, dissected and analyzed what they believed L’Engle’s true intentions were with the book and what she wanted her readers to feel. “I believe, as do people in her family and people who knew her, that Madeleine L'Engle was a passionate woman with moxie,” says DuVernay.
“She was a brave artist, so we tried to challenge ourselves to be brave in our choices as well.” “The reason why generations of people have gravitated toward this book is because it has an edge,” DuVernay continues. “It was on the edge of imagination and adventure in 1962, and our goal was to extend that edge through our design and effects to bring Jennifer Lee’s script to vibrant life.” “A Wrinkle in Time” is a timeless tale, and the combined perspectives of DuVernay and Lee add rich layers to the powerful story in a way that lovingly preserves L’Engle’s voice and simultaneously brings a new vision to life.
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