Disney's Oscar-winning animated film Frozen was not only a huge smash ($1.2B worldwide) for them, it was also of great historical significance. Not only is it the highest-grossing animated movie of all-time, but writer/co-director Jennifer Lee was the first woman to ever helm a movie for the studio, which is kind of incredible after all this time. But more than that, she instantly became the most successful female director ever, at least in terms of box office, and so it's no wonder Disney wants to get her on another project right away.
Lee is set to adapt the classic sci-fi/fantasy novel, A Wrinkle in Time, written in 1962 by Madeleine L'Engle. The original story followed a brother, sister, and high school friend traveling through time and space in search of the siblings' missing father, but it sounds like Lee, who apparently loved the book as a child, could be making some changes. Jeff Stockwell (Bridge to Terabithia) had written an early version of the script but Lee won Disney over with her own take emphasizing a strong female-driven approach, and given how audiences took to that with Frozen she won the job.
At this point there is no director attached and Lee ( who also co-wrote Wreck-It-Ralph) does not seem to be in contention for it at this time. Whoever does take the helm could be leading the first of a potential franchise as L'Engle wrote three sequels, A Wind in the Door, Many Waters, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. [Variety]
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