Ava DuVernay Becomes First Woman of Color to Direct $100 Million Movie

Ava DuVernay is making history with her $100 million adaptation of 'A Wrinkle in Time.'

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

With her forthcoming adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's classic novel A Wrinkle in Time, director Ava DuVernay will make history. The Academy Award-nominated director will become the first woman of color to ever helm a film with a $100 million budget, Women and Hollywood's Melissa Silverstein reports. As Silverstein notes in her report, the only other women to have directed live-action productions in this budget range are Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) and Kathryn Bigelow (K-19: The Widowmaker).

On Tuesday, Varietyannounced that Disney's A Wrinkle in Time would be one of 28 projects selected for an $18.1 million tax credit under California's recently expanded Film & Television Tax Credit Program. DuVernay's film received the largest credit, more than doubling that given to Warner Bros. forthcoming A Star Is Born remake with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

DuVernay's take on A Wrinkle in Time will star Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which, one of three characters crucial in helping the children at the center of the story track down a missing scientist whose involvement with something called a "tesseract" remains a mystery. Additional cast members have not been announced.

DuVernay responded to news of her history-making move Wednesday, thanking Silverstein for being a "champion" for all women:

In July, the first trailer for DuVernay's Oprah Winfrey Network original series Queen Sugar was released. The series, based on the novel of the same title by Natalie Baszile, centers on two sisters who leave Los Angeles for Louisiana to claim an 800-acre sugarcane farm left to them by their deceased father:

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Latest in Pop Culture