Ava DuVernay and Amma Asante just wrapped up two high-profile films and premiered them at festivals, but they’re both jumping into new projects right away. Women get stuff done.
DuVernay premiered her documentary “13th” at the New York Film Festival to great acclaim before it went on to stream on Netflix, and was submitted for the 89th Academy Awards. She’s now full steam ahead on her $100 million plus Disney adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time.” Based on Madeleine L’Engle’s classic sci-fi novel, the story follows a young girl who travels through time and space to find her missing scientist father and features two teens and a child in the lead roles. Filming begins today in Los Angeles and some new additions to the cast have been made.
As we previously reported, DuVernay was intent on including a diverse cast of actors for the project. Storm Reid, who made her acting debut in “12 Years a Slave,” was cast as the lead Meg Murry, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw playing her mom, Mrs. Murry. A trio of high-profile actresses were cast as three celestial beings: Oprah Winfrey is taking on Mrs. Which, Mindy Kaling will be Mrs. Who, and Reese Witherspoon Mrs. Whatsit.
Further recent casting announcements include: Chris Pine as Mr. Murry, Zach Galifianakis as The Happy Medium, André Holland (“Moonlight,” “Selma”) as Principal Jenkins, Levi Miller (“Pan”) as Calvin, Deric McCabe as Charles Wallace, with Bellamy Young (“Scandal”), Rowan Blanchard (“Girl Meets World”), and Will McCormack (“Brothers & Sisters”) rounding out the cast.
“Since Day One, this experience has shimmered with the promise and possibility, the passion and power that only great stories offer,” said DuVernay in a statement. “And Madeline L’Engle’s book is a great story indeed. A cool, quirky tale of an imperfect girl on an otherworldly expedition that has been praised and banned, dissected and celebrated the world over for more than 50 years. On behalf of all the filmmakers, artists and craftspeople in our ‘Wrinkle in Time’ family, we are genuinely thrilled by and truly grateful for the opportunity to make this film together.”
“Frozen” co-screenwriter and co-director Jennifer Lee penned the script for “A Wrinkle in Time,” which will be the first movie directed by a woman of color with a budget of over $100 million.
Meanwhile, Asante, whose “A United Kingdom” premiered at TIFF in September, and will hit the U.S. in early 2017, has been adding to the cast of “Where Hands Touch” as well, and filming of her World War II drama kicks off in Belgium this week.
Amandla Stenberg of “The Hunger Games” is set to star in the film, which is a romance set against the backdrop of WWII Germany, centering on the (no doubt controversial and complex) relationship between a 17-year-old mixed-race German girl (Stenberg) and a 19-year-old German soldier (George McKay, “Pride”).
In addition to the announcement that production was getting started this week, some more new faces were added to the roster. Abbie Cornish (“Limitless”), Christopher Eccleston (“Doctor Who,” “The Leftovers”) and Tom Sweet, (“The Childhood of a Leader”) have joined Asante’s cast.
“I have been an absolute fan of Abbie Cornish and Chris Eccleston for some time, and I am delighted to welcome Tom Sweet to my cast,” Asante said in a statement.
DuVernay and Asante kicking off new projects so soon after wrapping their previous ones is something to be celebrated. It’s not a frequent occurrence that female directors, let alone female directors of color, find work so quickly after one film. We have to hope that the campaigns to get more women, and more people of color, behind the camera are being noticed.
