From Sundance Darling to one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood, “Selma” director Ava DuVernay has so far kept mum about what her next project will be. If reports are to believed, however, she is currently being courted for two major science fiction films by major production studios.
Disney has reportedly put a feature film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle's “A Wrinkle In Time” on her plate, while Amblin Entertainment has also their sights set on her to direct the thriller “Intelligent Life.”
It is still unknown if DuVernay will accept either project, or perhaps even both. What we do know is that she is currently developing the drama, “Queen Sugar,” for the Oprah Winfrey's network, OWN. She also had previously announced plans to reunite with David Oyelowo, her star in “Selma,” for a Hurricane Katrina drama.
“A Wrinkle In Time” was published in 1963 and won the John Newbery Medal for children's literature. It has been loved by children for generations, but a feature film has never been made yet. In 2004, a forgettable made-for-TV movie was produced, and in the words of author L'Engle herself: it was bad.
"Oh, yes. I expected it to be bad, and it is," she said.
The new movie has been penned by Jennifer Lee, the Academy Award-winning writer and co-director of “Frozen.” Many are hopeful that her treatment of L'Engle's story of a girl who must travel through the Tesseract with her younger brother and best friend to save their scientist father trapped on another planet in an alternate universe will give the source material more justice.
It has also been announced that she will direct “Intelligent Life," which was written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, the team behind "Jurassic World." Lupita Nyong’o has been cast as the film's central alien protagonist and producers Frank Marshall and Trevorrow have set production to begin this summer. This gives much hope that DuVernay's schedule will be free to take on both “Intelligent Life” and “A Wrinkle In Time.”
After DuVernay turned down the director's seat for Marvel's “Black Panther” because “it really wasn’t going to be an Ava DuVernay film,” many are keeping their fingers crossed that she will have the chance to put her stamp on those other two science fiction epics.
