This Woman Just Broke Through a Huge Barrier

As Deadline reported earlier this week, Disney's A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay, has a budget of more than $100 million. Why is that significant? Because, as the Women and Hollywood blog points out, that makes DuVernay the first woman of color to direct a live-action film with a budget that high. And only two other women (Kathryn Bigelow with K-19: The Widowmaker and Patty Jenkins with next year's Wonder Woman) have ever helmed live-action movies with budgets of more than $100 million.

DuVernay's feature debut in 2011, I Will Follow, cost just $50,000 to make; from there, she worked her way up to 2014's Selma, which cost $20 million and was nominated for two Oscars and four Golden Globes. And now A Wrinkle in Time, an adaptation of the Madeleine L'Engle book that will star Oprah Winfrey. "This is a normal path for male directors, but one rarely accessible to women," writes Melissa Silverstein. In response to a tweet pointing out DuVernay will be the first woman of color to direct a $100 million film, DuVernay tweeted Wednesday, "Not the first capable of doing so. Not by a long shot. Thanks to @DisneyStudios for breaking this glass with me." (Chelsea Clinton gave the book an inadvertent boost in sales.)