A Wrinkle in Time is a 2018 American science fantasy adventure film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell, based on the 1962 novel. The film follows a young girl and her adoptive younger brother who, with the help of three astral travelers, sets off on a quest to find their missing father. The film stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine.
It is Disney's second film adaptation of L'Engle's novel, following the 2003 television film. Development began in late 2010, with Stockwell writing the first draft of the script, and Lee joining to rewrite it four years later. DuVernay signed on to direct in early 2016. Principal photography began on November 2, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. Near the end of filming, production moved to New Zealand, where photography ended on February 25, 2017. With an estimated production budget of $103 million, the film became the first $100-million-budget live-action film to be directed by an African-American woman. Ramin Djawadi composed and conducted the film's score.
A Wrinkle in Time premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on February 26, 2018, and was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 9. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, with a reported loss of $130.6 million at the box office.
Plot
Thirteen-year-old Meg Murry struggles to adjust at school due to bullying and depression, four years after the disappearance of her father, Alex, who was a renowned astrophysicist. Meg discovers her gifted younger brother, Charles Wallace, with an unusual visitor, Mrs. Whatsit, who claims that the tesseract — a method of space travel Alex was studying — is real.
Meg and Charles Wallace meet Calvin O'Keefe, who joins them at the house of Mrs. Who, another strange friend of Charles Wallace: she speaks only in quotations. Calvin has dinner with the Murry family, and Mrs. Murry recalls Alex's commitment to their research despite public ridicule. In the backyard, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who appear with Mrs. Which, revealing themselves as astral travelers. Explaining that they have come to help find Alex (who did not leave his family, but has transported himself across the universe), the three Misses lead Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace through a tesseract to the distant planet Uriel.
The planet's sentient flowers confirm that Alex visited Uriel. Mrs. Whatsit transforms into a leaf-like flying creature, and carries the children into the sky. Calvin nearly falls to his death after noticing a dark planet that Mrs. Which identifies as Camazotz, home to evil energy known as "the IT". They tesser to the planet Orion to seek the help of a seer named Happy Medium. Mrs. Which reveals that the IT spreads negativity throughout the universe, including on Earth.
Happy Medium helps Meg overcome her self-doubt, and they learn that her father tessered to Uriel, then Ixchel, but was trapped on Camazotz. The Misses insist they regroup on Earth, but Meg's determination to save her father overrides the tesseract, unintentionally redirecting them to Camazotz. Unable to stay (as Camazotz's evil is stronger than their light), the Misses bestow gifts before departing: Mrs. Who gives Meg her glasses to see what is really there, Mrs. Whatsit gives Meg the knowledge of her faults, and Mrs. Which gives the children the command to never separate.
A forest appears, separating Meg and Calvin from Charles Wallace. They are pursued by a tornado-like storm; Meg uses the storm's own force to slingshot her and Calvin atop a cliff wall, where they reunite with Charles Wallace. They find themselves in a neighborhood of lookalike homes, children, and mothers; one woman invites the children inside. Meg politely declines her offer, feeling suspicious. Their surroundings transform into a crowded beach, where a man introduces himself as Red. Assuring them that Alex is safe, he offers them food. When Charles Wallace says the food tastes like sand, Red possesses him through the IT, of which Red is actually a puppet.
Meg and Calvin chase after Red and Charles Wallace through the crowd, but are trapped in a seemingly empty, spherical room. Red deactivates, while the possessed Charles Wallace taunts Meg and Calvin. Using Mrs. Who's glasses, Meg finds an invisible staircase to another room where her father is imprisoned. After a happy but tearful reunion, they are dragged away by Charles Wallace to meet his master. As Calvin and Meg fall under the IT's power, Alex opens a tesseract to escape with the two of them. Refusing to abandon Charles Wallace, Meg projects back to Camazotz and confronts the IT in its malevolent, neuron-like form.
Charles Wallace and the IT try to force Meg to give in to darkness, menacing her with an idealized version of herself, but Meg embraces her own imperfections and uses her love for her brother to free him. The IT dissipates as the Misses reappear, congratulating Meg and Charles Wallace on becoming "Warriors of Light". Meg tessers them home, where Alex is reunited with his wife. Meanwhile, Calvin leaves to confront his father, and Meg looks to the sky, thanking the Misses.
Cast Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which, an astral being as old as the universe Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Whatsit, an astral being whose favorite planet is the planet Uriel Mindy Kaling as Mrs. Who, an astral being from the planet Ixchel Storm Reid as Meg Murry, a gifted young girl who's been bullied by Veronica for the past years Lyric Wilson as young Meg Levi Miller as Calvin O'Keefe, Meg's classmate and friend Deric McCabe as Charles Wallace Murry, Meg's smart adoptive six-year-old brother who gets hypnotized by the IT Chris Pine as Dr. Alexander Murry, Meg and Charles Wallace's long-lost father and Kate's husband Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dr. Kate Murry, Meg and Charles Wallace's mother and Alex's wife Zach Galifianakis as Happy Medium, a seer from the planet Orion Michael Peña as Red, a form of The IT David Oyelowo as The IT, Red's true diabolical form André Holland as James Jenkins, the principal of Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace's school Rowan Blanchard as Veronica Kiley, a student who bullies Meg because of her absent father, but later regrets her past actions and no longer bullies her. Halfway into the film, it's revealed that she secretly suffers from body dysmorphia Bellamy Young as Camazotz Woman, a mother from the Camazotz neighborhood Conrad Roberts as Elegant Man, an elder neighbour and friend of Charles Wallace Will McCormack and Yvette Cason as two gossipy teachers that are jealous of children with gifts Daniel MacPherson as Mr. O'Keefe, Calvin's abusive and unloving father
Production Development In October 2010, Walt Disney Pictures retained the film rights for the 1962 novel A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, which had previously been made as a 2003 television film. Following the financial success of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), Disney hired Jeff Stockwell to write the screenplay for Cary Granat and his new Bedrock Studios. Granat had previously worked with Disney on the Chronicles of Narnia and Bridge to Terabithia films. The project's budget was slated to be $35 million, which the company compared to District 9 and Bridge to Terabithia, both of which were made for less than $30 million.
However, A Wrinkle in Time was part of a new California Film Commission tax credit program, which offset production costs considerably. On August 5, 2014, Jennifer Lee was announced as the screenwriter, taking over from Stockwell, who wrote the first draft.
On February 8, 2016, it was reported that Ava DuVernay had been offered the job of directing the film, and she was confirmed to direct later that same month. She became the first African-American woman to direct a live-action film with a production budget of more than $100 million. The decision received positive sentiments in the media industry. Oprah Winfrey was happy to see this because DuVernay herself broke barriers for non-white people in the film industry. "So I do imagine, to be a brown-skinned girl of any race throughout the world, looking up on that screen and seeing Storm, I think that is a capital A, capital W, E, some, AWESOME, experience."
Irene Monroe of The Cambridge Day expressed her feelings that Ava DuVernay was a superb choice of a director because she was able to highlight and expose the struggles experienced by young African-American girls.
Casting On July 26, 2016, Variety reported that Oprah Winfrey began final negotiations to join the film to play Mrs. Which, the eldest of the three Mrs. Ws, celestial beings who guide the children along their journey. In September, 2016, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling were reported to be in talks to join the film, with Witherspoon to play Mrs. Whatsit, a chatty, grandmotherly sprite, and Kaling to play the quotation-reciting Mrs. Who. On September 13, 2016, Storm Reid was cast in the lead role of Meg Murry, a young girl traumatized by the disappearance of her scientist father years before.
In October 2016, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Chris Pine were cast as Meg's parents, Drs. Kate and Alex Murry. On November 1, 2016, additional cast announcements included Zach Galifianakis as Happy Medium, André Holland as Principal Jenkins, Levi Miller as Calvin, and Deric McCabe as Charles Wallace, along with Bellamy Young, Rowan Blanchard and Will McCormack. Later, Michael Peña joined the cast to play Red. The film producers are James Whitaker and Catherine Hand.
Filming Principal photography on the film began November 2, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. Tobias A. Schliessler was the film's cinematographer, Naomi Shohan was production designer, Paco Delgado was costume designer, and Rich McBride was the film's visual effects supervisor. During production, DuVernay asked McBride to be as flexible as possible on visual effects sequences to enable her to make changes and incorporate new ideas during shooting.
Filming for A Wrinkle in Time took place in multiple locations including Eureka, California, in Humboldt County, starting November 29, 2016.
After Los Angeles, production moved to New Zealand for two weeks. During the last two weeks of February 2017, filming locations for A Wrinkle in Time were in Central Otago, New Zealand. Actors and crew were in New Zealand for two weeks to shoot scenes in the Southern Alps, including at Hunter Valley Station near Lake Hāwea, with cast and crew treated to a traditional Māori pōwhiri and karakia. Filming wrapped up in New Zealand's South Island after two weeks, and DuVernay declared the cast and crew's love for New Zealand in an Instagram post.
Music
On September 28, 2017, Ramin Djawadi was announced as the composer for the film, replacing Jonny Greenwood, who was initially chosen to compose and score the film. On February 20, 2018, it was announced that the soundtrack would feature appearances from Sade, Sia, Kehlani, Chloe x Halle, Freestyle Fellowship, DJ Khaled, and Demi Lovato.
Release A Wrinkle in Time premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on February 26, 2018, with its theatrical release on March 9, 2018. This was a month ahead of its initial release date of April 6, 2018. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 5, 2018. It became available for streaming on Disney+ in the United States on March 25, 2020, after being available since launch elsewhere.
Reception Box office