Figuring (correctly) that everything is at least 57% better when it includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw, director Ava DuVernay has cast her in A Wrinkle In Time.
Jennifer Lee adapted the script from Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 tome, which kicked off her Time Quartet series of novels. The story follows the Murray family; especially teenager Meg (Storm Reid) 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 (Reese Witherspoon), 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.
Mbatha-Raw is playing Dr. Murray, Meg's scientist mother. DuVernay confirmed her casting – originally reported by Variety – on twitter.
She joins a cast that also already includes Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling. DuVernay is preparing to shoot the film. Mbatha-Raw is in an episode of the new Black Mirror season launching shortly on Netflix. Cinematically, she'll be seen in sci-fi thriller God Particle, landing on 24 February and is Plumette in the live-action Beauty And The Beast, which is out on 17 March.