The second trailer for Disney’s upcoming adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time debuted this past Sunday during the American Music Awards. The film is based on the classic science fiction/fantasy novel by Madeleine L’Engle, who also wrote five other books in the series that take place after Wrinkle. This will be the first film adaptation of the book since the television movie released in 2003, made by Canadian production companies and also distributed by Disney.
The trailer starts out with our main protagonist Meg Murray (Storm Reid) being called out for bad behavior in school, being told she can’t use her father’s disappearance as an excuse for acting out. We learn that Meg’s father (Chris Pine) is some sort of scientist who had been playing around with a fifth-dimension of travel through time and space when he disappeared. A synopsis of the film states this occurred five years ago. We also get a look at Meg’s friend Calvin (Levi Miller), younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), and mother (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who is also a scientist.
Next, although we don’t exactly see how, Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace are magically transported to an entirely different place where three eccentrically dressed women warn them that Mr. Murray is in trouble. These three witches, Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) tell the children they heard a cry – which we presume is Meg’s father, still alive – and that Mr. Murray is trapped by an evil energy too powerful for them to overcome. Meg is told she’s the only one who can save him, and must “be a warrior,” hence the film’s promotional tagline.
From there, the trailer treats us to a visual spectacle of colors and fantasy, from running flowers and flying plant people to whirling tornadoes and smoke clouds. No further plot points are revealed, but viewers might ask if there’s anything left to reveal. The trailer may make the movie appear overtly simple and light, despite the deep complexities and dark themes of the source material; fans of the book can only hope that the trailer is not a fully accurate picture of what the final film will be. If that’s the case, we could all be in for a real treat come March 9th.
Watch the new trailer here:
