By distributing Marvel Studios films and now controlling the Star Wars universe, Disney has rebounded strongly from the major losses of John Carter and The Lone Ranger by putting their castle logo in front of massive properties. But they can still make their own original hits. The worldwide phenomenon of Frozen is staggering, after almost $1.3 billion in box office receipts ($400 million of which is from the US), Frozen a rare film that is actually a cultural hit across the entire film globe. The centerpiece song “Let it Go” has been translated and recorded in 41 different languages, of which, Disney even cast most of the international singers (it requires a three octave range) and the hits kept coming. You’ve heard the expression “big in Japan”? Frozen owned Japan, staying number one at the box office for 16 straight weeks.
So Disney was pretty darn excited to announce that the film’s co-writer/co-director (and thereby, in terms of box office, the most successful female film director in the world) Jennifer Lee will be tackling a property they’ve been trying to get off the ground since 2009: an adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 book A Wrinkle in Time. And while Marvel hems and haws about when they’ll ever introduce a female lead in their universe, Disney is fast-tracking Lee’s film about a young girl who, with two classmates, travels to multiple universes in search for her missing father. The novel was also adapted (and updated) in 2012 by illustrator Hope Larson into an award-winning graphic novel.
Lee won an Oscar last year for Best Animated Feature and was the first female director of a Disney animated feature (she co-directed with Chris Buck, who was also awarded). At this stage she has only been hired for a script (Lee also co-wrote Wreck-It-Ralph for Disney). However, she’s noted that the book (which L’Engle says was rejected by 40 publishers for having a girl as the lead in a science fiction book) is a favorite and we’re sure if she wants to make her live-action directorial debut that Disney would be on board.
Brian Formo is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @BrianEmilFormo.
