"A Wrinkle in Time" hits theaters on March 9, 2018, and is based on the 1963 best-selling children's book by the Christian author Madeleine L'Engle.
According to a description of the upcoming film, which stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling, Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time" takes audiences across dimensions of time and space, examining the nature of darkness versus light and ultimately, the triumph of love.
Reads the film synopsis: "Meg Murry and her little brother, Charles Wallace, have been without their scientist father, Mr. Murry, for five years, ever since he discovered a new planet and used the concept known as a tesseract to travel there. Joined by Meg's classmate Calvin O'Keefe and guided by the three mysterious astral travelers known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, the children brave a dangerous journey to a planet that possesses all of the evil in the universe."
L'Engle, who passed away in 2007, was an outspoken Christian who served as a Sunday school teacher and worked as a librarian at Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City for nearly thirty years.
"Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys," she once said.
She told Christianity Today that her conversion "was not a Damascus Road experience," rather, she "slowly moved into an intellectual acceptance of what my intuition had always known."
Thus, while "A Wrinkle in Time" is not an overtly faith-based book, it includes a number of Christian themes - such as the battle between good and evil. It also features religious imagery, numerous Biblical quotes, and references to angels. Christ is also cited as one of the "great warriors of light".
The book hasn't been without controversy: The New York Times notes that "Wrinkle" has been one of the most banned books in the United States, "accused by religious conservatives of offering an inaccurate portrayal of God and nurturing in the young an unholy belief in myth and fantasy."
L'Engle later told The Times: "It seems people are willing to damn the book without reading it. Nonsense about witchcraft and fantasy. First I felt horror, then anger, and finally I said, 'Ah, the hell with it.' It's great publicity, really."
Directed by Ava DuVernay from a screenplay by Jennifer Lee, "A Wrinkle in Time" is produced by Jim Whitaker and Catherine Hand with Doug Merrifield serving as executive producer. The film stars also stars Storm Reid, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peňa, Levi Miller, Deric McCabe, André Holland, Rowan Blanchard with Zach Galifianakis and Chris Pine.
Watch the trailer below.
