Ava DuVernay’s first project with Disney is already breaking records. The director’s upcoming fantasy adaption of A Wrinkle in Time will make her the first black female director in history to helm a movie with a $100 million budget, the Los Angeles Times reports.
DuVernay marveled at the fact on Twitter, firmly pointing out that she is not the first black female director “capable of doing so. Not by a long shot.”
“Thanks @DisneyStudios for breaking this glass with me,” she tweeted.
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The high-profile adaption also garnered attention recently when it was announced that Oprah Winfrey, the mononymous queen of everything and patron saint of bread, is joining the cast of Wrinkle. She’ll reportedly play Mrs. Which, an omnipotent billion-year-old being.
The move is part of Disney’s new wave of ushering in diversity, both behind and in front of the screen. The House of Mouse recently shared that its revamp of cult classic The Rocketeer would star a young black female character. In addition, an upcoming adaption of The Nutcracker recently added groundbreaking ballerina Misty Copeland and Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman to its cast.
These films join an upcoming slate that features completed projects like Queen of Katwe, the Mira Nair-directed biopic of a Ugandan chess champ starring newcomer Madina Nalwanga and Lupita Nyong’o, and animated film Moana, about a Polynesian princess. That film’s voice cast includes Dwayne Johnson and newbie Auli’i Cravalho, who will voice the titular role. Onward, Disney!
