The 'Selma' director is going to be the first black woman to direct a $100 million movie

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Ava DuVernay

Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Ava DuVernay.

With her new movie, Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time" starring Oprah Winfrey, director Ava DuVernay ("Selma") is now the the first black woman to direct a $100 million-budgeted live-action movie. 

The milestone became public when the film, which is a fantasy adventure based on the novel by Madeleine L'Engle, appeared on a list of movies that will receive California tax incentives that Deadline posted.

DuVernay confirmed the news with a pair of tweets on Wednesday:

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Clearly, DuVernay thinks it's a problem that a person is just now breaking this barrier.

DuVernay enters a very short list of female directors who have been given the reins for a big-budget movie. 

Kathryn Bigelow did it for 2002's Harrison Ford-starring submarine drama "K-19: The Widowmaker" and Patty Jenkins ("Monster") is directed the upcoming "Wonder Woman" movie. That's it!

The next DuVernay film to hit theaters will be "The 13th" (out October 7 from Netflix), a documentary that looks at the US prison system and how it relates to the nation's history of racial inequality.