Star Trek Beyond alum Chris Pine has climbed aboard A Wrinkle in Time, the Disney adaptation to be helmed by Selma‘s Ava DuVernay.
First reported by Deadline, Pine will play the father in Madeleine L’Engle’s classic children’s book, who sets off on an intergalactic journey and subsequently becomes lost amid the cosmos. Gugu Mbatha-Raw recently landed the role of his scientist wife, with the remainder of the cast being filled out by Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and relative newcomer Storm Reid.
The latter will take point as Meg Murry, a wise-beyond-her-years young girl who becomes increasingly concerned about her wayward old man (Pine). Together with classmate Calvin O’Keefe and her younger brother, she is whisked off on an interplanetary quest, encountering three mystical beings known as Mrs. Whatsit (Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Winfrey) as she goes.
As the first entry into L’Engle’s novel series, the House of Mouse has evidently sensed franchise potential lurking under the hood of A Wrinkle in Time. It is, of course, too soon for talk of a sequel, let alone an entire film series, but a cracking cast coupled with the story’s fantastical elements ought to make for some good old-fashioned family fun.
Production on A Wrinkle in Time is gearing up to start in Los Angeles before the year’s end, though there’s still no mention of an official release date. Next up for Pine, meanwhile, is a starring role opposite Gal Gadot in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman movie. Look for that one to grace theaters on June 2, 2017.
