Disney taps ‘Frozen’s’ Jennifer Lee to write ‘Wrinkle in Time’ script

“Frozen” filmmaker Jennifer Lee is headed from the snowbound kingdom of Arendelle to the far reaches of space and time.

Lee, who wrote and co-directed the hit Disney animated musical with Chris Buck, has signed on to pen a big-screen adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s science-fantasy children’s book “A Wrinkle in Time” for the studio, the Los Angeles Times has confirmed. Variety first reported the news.

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FOR THE RECORD

A previous version of this post said Lee and Buck co-wrote “Frozen.” Lee was the sole screenwriter.
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A mystical tale of good and evil first published in 1962, “Wrinkle” tells the story of Meg Murry, a girl who travels through a dimensional rift to rescue her scientist father, who has been imprisoned on a far-off planet. The Newbery Award-winning novel is one of the bestselling children’s books in history, with more than 10 million copies sold.

Lee’s take on “Wrinkle” is said to be a strongly female-driven narrative, and Disney has scored with a number of such films in recent years, including “Frozen” (a two-time Oscar winner and the highest-grossing animated film of all time), “Maleficent,” “Brave” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

Lee will have her work cut out for her; despite being a children’s book, “Wrinkle” is dense, elliptical and, well, literary. Disney previously adapted the book as a TV movie that aired on ABC in 2004 and garnered mixed reviews.

If “Wrinkle” does succeed at the box office it could spawn a new franchise for the studio. The book is the first installment of L’Engle’s “Time Quintet,” which includes “A Wind in the Door,” “A Swiftly Tilting Planet,” “Many Waters” and “An Acceptable Time.”

No director has been named yet for “A Wrinkle in Time,” which Jim Whitaker and Catherine hand are producing. Jeff Stockwell (“Bridge to Terabithia”) previously wrote a draft of the screenplay in 2010.

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