How 'A Wrinkle in Time' Could Still Find Box Office Success

Atsushi Nishijima/Disney

At a time when demand for diversity in Hollywood has reached a fever pitch, Ava DuVernay and Ryan Coogler made box office history this past weekend. They became the first black directors to release films with $100 million-plus budgets that finished in the top two spots at the weekend box office, as “Black Panther” and “A Wrinkle in Time” combined to make $74 million.

But while DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s novel has that achievement under its belt, “A Wrinkle in Time” is still facing an uphill battle for box office success. It only made $33 million in its opening weekend against a $103 million budget, and has made just under $42 million worldwide with a slow overseas rollout still to come. If the film shows the same performance as “Tomorrowland,” another Disney release that opened to $33 million in 2015, it’s looking at a final total of only $200-250 million.

But there is one possible path to better numbers for “Wrinkle,” and that lies in the audience that DuVernay crafted her movie’s message for: the youth, and especially girls.

Also Read: 'A Wrinkle in Time': What Is a Tesseract, and Why Does It Sound Familiar?

While overall reception to “Wrinkle in Time” has been mediocre with a 42 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B on CinemaScore, women under 25 polled by CinemaScore on opening night gave the film an A-. Meanwhile, on comScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, 79 percent of women under 25 polled gave the film a positive score. That demographic comprised 33 percent of the total audience, followed by 24 percent being women over 25.

Even if “Wrinkle In Time” isn’t getting the widespread interest and adoration from moviegoers as “Black Panther,” it still seems to have struck a chord with kids, which is what Disney hoped for when they put the film in this release slot. Though it’s sharing theater space with the still in-demand “Black Panther,” Disney put “Wrinkle” out in early March to draw in family audiences during spring break. The studio has been able to attract kids on school break quite well recently, with “Zootopia” and the “Beauty and the Beast” remake making a combined $845 million domestically from their March releases.

“With a film like [Wrinkle in Time’] we really wanted to take advantage of this spring break window, which rolls all the way through Easter,” said Disney distribution head Dave Hollis. “It’s a story with a really inspirational message and heroes that we believe kids can really connect with.”

Also Read: 'A Wrinkle in Time' Divides Critics, From 'Full of Whimsy' to 'a Noble Failure'

If family and female audiences show up, “Wrinkle in Time” could hang tough on the charts like “The Greatest Showman” did in January. Fox’s circus musical was slow out of the gate going against recognized titles like “Star Wars” and “Jumanji,” but has been able to make more money domestically than “La La Land” thanks to strong word of mouth in later weeks.

“Sometimes a movie ends up surprising us by finding an audience even though it doesn’t have the pre-release buzz or the reviews behind it,” said comScore’s Paul Dergarabedian. “There’s been a lot of talk about movies having characters that all people can identity with, and ‘Wrinkle In Time’ might be able to strike a chord.”

But Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock is not optimistic about the film’s hopes. He notes that unlike “The Greatest Showman,” which could take advantage of renewed interest in musicals thanks to “La La Land” and “Hamilton,” “Wrinkle In Time” is a YA novel adaptation, a genre that has struggled lately at the box office.

Also Read: 'A Wrinkle in Time' Film Review: Oprah Hitchhikes the Galaxy in Trippy Kiddie Treat

“For a movie with this big a budget it needs to have a lot more interest to turn a profit,” Bock said. “And with ‘Sherlock Gnomes’ coming out next week, the really young kids are going to be more interested in that, and I don’t know if there’s going to be enough interest among older kids to sustain the film long-term.”

The target for “Wrinkle In Time” this weekend is $16 million, which would be roughly half of its opening total. If it can clear that mark, then it may be able to stick around for the long haul at movie theaters this Easter season.

Oprah Winfrey's Major Movie Roles Ranked, From 'The Color Purple' to 'A Wrinkle in Time' (Photos)

For being such a larger than life figure, Oprah Winfrey has gravitated as an actress toward playing more modest women of an ordinary stature. Winfrey is so celebrated as a media personality, she doesn't often get the credit for her versatility, strength and naturalism on screen. That might be in part because, outside of some TV movies for Oxygen and animated voice work, she's limited her projects and only acted in a handful of notable films. Here's how they stack up from worst to best.
7. "Native Son" (1986)

In this forgettable adaptation of an otherwise powerful novel by Richard Wright, Winfrey plays the mother to Bigger Thomas. She goes from stern and strong-willed as she urges her son to find work to warm and desperate once she's pleading for her son's life. This is an early performance for Winfrey, and she'd find more presence in better projects later.
Cinecom Pictures
6. "A Wrinkle in Time" (2018)

Winfrey never plays herself in the movies. And yet in Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time," she's literally larger than life, appearing as a giant in the sky dressed in chain mail and a massive blonde pillow of hair spewing Oprah-isms. But Ava DuVernay doesn't cast her to play a charismatic goddess. Instead, she's there to do what Oprah does best. She brings hope, spirit and positivity to the film, and when she's talking to the film's main character, she has a gift of sounding as though she's talking directly to you.
Walt Disney Pictures
5. "Beloved" (1998)

Winfrey gave her all for the adaptation of Toni Morrison's "Beloved," showing sadness and anger in equal measure on screen. She even went method and simulated the experience of being a slave in preparation. But the film was a sprawling and overlong epic as handled by Jonathan Demme, and the its failure at the box office sent Winfrey into a "depression."
Buena Vista Pictures
4. "Selma" (2014)

Winfrey plays a small but significant role in Ava DuVernay's civil rights drama "Selma." In a powerful scene that isn't tantamount to the plot but is crucial to the movie's punishing fight for justice, Winfrey attempts to register to vote in Alabama and comes face to face with a ruthless clerk trying to find any reason to deny her the right to vote. She quietly and just barely holds her head up to recite the Preamble of the Constitution and prove her civil knowledge. But it's devastating to see someone even like Winfrey humbled by pervasive racism.
Paramount Pictures
3. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" (2017)

In this HBO movie, Winfrey plays a woman searching for a mother she never knew. Henrietta Lacks was the unwitting donor of a tissue sample that was eventually used as a cure for polio and countless other medical advances. But after years of lies and cover ups from the medical community, the Lacks family has grown untrusting and paranoid. Winfrey plays Henrietta Lacks' daughter as unpredictable and volatile, and her performance anchors a movie about how an African-American woman battling her own paranoia comes to terms with her heritage and family's legacy.
HBO
2. "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (2013)

In "The Butler," Winfrey walks a fine line between sweet and motherly -- and even unlikable. She's cheating on her upstanding husband and struggles with drink, but she's still a sage figure in this family's household. She has an incredible scene as she's talking about Sidney Poitier, playing polite until her son insults the dignity of his own father. It's the type of performance where Winfrey is convincing enough playing nice that you're surprised when she reveals she's not a pushover.
TWC
1. "The Color Purple" (1985)

In what is her finest work by a mile, Steven Spielberg got a hold of Winfrey just before she was "Oprah." She's introduced as a "big girl", and on screen she's a loud and proud woman with vitality, charisma and fearless confidence. Looking at her, you know she'll be a star, but she's so boisterous and defiant, you'd hardly expect her to become the warmest, most understanding media personality of the next 30 years. Her early line about fighting her whole life earned her an Oscar nomination, but I feel more sorry for the woman who slapped Oprah in the film and lived to tell the tale.
Warner Bros.

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Where does Oprah’s larger than life role in “A Wrinkle in Time” rank?

For being such a larger than life figure, Oprah Winfrey has gravitated as an actress toward playing more modest women of an ordinary stature. Winfrey is so celebrated as a media personality, she doesn't often get the credit for her versatility, strength and naturalism on screen. That might be in part because, outside of some TV movies for Oxygen and animated voice work, she's limited her projects and only acted in a handful of notable films. Here's how they stack up from worst to best.

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