With producer and pal Oprah Winfrey already in the cast, Selma's Ava DuVernay has been rustling up some other cast for her latest, A Wrinkle In Time. She's zeroed in on Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling, who are now in talks to play key roles.
Frozen's Jennifer Lee wrote the script, which draws on Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 tome. The story follows the Murry family; especially teenager Meg and her genius 5-year-old brother Charles Wallace, and Meg's classmate Calvin O'Keefe. Their scientist father has gone missing, but after the visit of a mysterious old lady called Mrs. Whatsit – who tells their mother that "There is such a thing as a tesseract" – they learn that their father's research may have been more successful than they guessed and that he may have travelled in space and time. The kids end up following his footsteps to a planet called Camazotz, ruled by a giant evil brain called The Black Thing.
Winfrey has confirmed her involvement, playing Mrs. Which, one of a trio of supernatural beings that come to the kids' aid. If she lock in deals, Witherspoon will be shabby former celestial being Mrs. Whatsit, with Kaling as Mrs. Who, fond of quoting literature. DuVernay should be in production this November.
Witherspoon has produced and acted in HBO comedy drama series Big Little Lies and will be heard in crooning cartoon creature feature Sing, which arrives on January 27. Kaling continues to run and star in sitcom The Mindy Project and has landed a role in Ocean's Eleven spin-off Ocean's Eight.