A Wrinkle in Time's young star: 'Representation is everything'

Its diverse, all-star cast,inclusive message and significant $100 million US budget the largest ever for a female African-American director are some of the reasons A Wrinkle In Time is being labelled a potential game-changer in Hollywood.

But one of its stars, Oprah Winfrey, said there's a much simpler lesson as well.

"It lets other people know that it's possible," she said atthe film's red carpet premiere in Los Angeles Monday, when askedabout the theme of femalefriendship.

A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Selma and 13thfilmmaker Ava DuVernay, is based on the 1962 children's science fiction classic by Madeleine L'Engle about a girl played by Storm Reidsearching for a father who went missing after the discovery of a new planet.

Her journey is guided by three women travellers played by Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

"To be on such a set that looked like the United Nations ...it was really great so I'm glad I got to experience that," Reid told CBCNews.

Chris Pine, Michael Pena, and Zach Galifianakisalso star in the film adapted by Frozen writer Jennifer Lee.

"Because it's a female-driven story, doesn't mean it's just for girls," said Lee. "The journey itself is what we all relate to and women can pull that together too."

While it's unclear how A Wrinkle In Timewill fare with audiences until it's officially released in the U.S. and Canada on March 9, the highly-anticipated movie is providing a much-needed antidote to criticisms in Hollywood about the lack of diversity and women in majorroles.

A recent study from San Diego State University reported that only 24 per cent of lead roles in Hollywood's 100 top-grossing films of 2017 belonged to women. That number represented adrop compared to the year before.

A Wrinkle In Time's visual impactcoupled with its female-led, multicultural cast puts itin good stead to follow therelease of Black Panther. The Marvel superhero film has beenreceiving praise from around the world for its positive focus on African culture and strong roles for women.

"Representation is everything and then to be represented in the right way, is absolutely incredible," said Reid.