Jennifer Lee has shot to the top of Disney Animation in recent years with her impressive work writing Wreck-It Ralph and co-directing Frozen, one of the biggest hits ever for the company. She is part of the studio’s Story Trust, akin to the Brain Trust at sister studio Pixar, demonstrating how integral she has become to Disney. Many wondered what project she would be tackling next. She helped adapt Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen (it morphed into Frozen), and now she will be working on bringing another literary classic to the big screen.
Variety reports that Lee is currently writing an adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time, Madeline L’Engle’s story of children traveling to various worlds to search for their missing father. Given that the main character of the book is a young girl, the story seems like a great next project for Lee, who turned Frozen, another female-centered story into a major success by making the females relatable to everyone, regardless of gender. Apparently, in addition to taking a great approach to sci-fi, her pitch emphasized “a strong female driven narrative” according to Variety, impressing Disney execs enough to allow her to delve deeper into the project.
There is no release date or even a director attached to the film. Stay tuned for more on A Wrinkle In Time as we learn more. Seeing as to how Disney is hyper-focused on developing new franchises, the series from L’Engle, which includes four other books could be a major boon for the company if the first film proves to be successful.