<P> A Wrinkle in Time is a 2018 American science fantasy adventure film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Madeleine L'Engle . The film stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha - Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis and Chris Pine, and follows a young girl who, with the help of three astral travelers, sets off on a quest to find her father, who went missing after discovering a new planet . </P> <P> Principal photography began on November 2, 2016, in Los Angeles, California . With a production budget of over $100 million, the film became the first live - action film with a nine - digit budget to be directed by a woman of color . A Wrinkle in Time premired at the El Capitan Theatre on February 26, 2018, and with a theatrical release on March 9, 2018, through the Disney Digital 3 - D, Real D 3D, and IMAX formats . The film received mixed reviews, with critics "taking issue with the film's heavy use of CGI and numerous plot holes" while many "celebrated its message of female empowerment and diversity". With a total production and marketing budget of around $250 million, the film grossed just $129 million worldwide, making it a box office bomb and losing Disney at least $86 million . </P> <P> Thirteen - year - old Meg Murry struggles to adjust to school and home life ever since her father Alex, a well - renowned scientist, mysteriously disappeared while he was studying astrophysics . Both Meg and her mother Kate believe he solved the question of humanity's existence and theorize he was teleported to another world . </P> <P> During the night, Meg's younger brother Charles Wallace welcomes a stranger in a large white dress named Mrs. Whatsit into the Murry family house . She mentions the tesseract, a type of space - travel Alex was working on, is real, and leaves soon after . The next day, one of Meg's classmates, Calvin O'Keefe, joins them to go to the house of Mrs. Who, another strange woman who speaks only in quotations and seems to know Charles Wallace . </P>

Who played the father in a wrinkle in time