Rachel McAdams Brings The Red Dancing Emoji To Life For 'Are You There God?' Premiere in LA

Back on the horse. Morgan Wallen apologized to fans who were impacted by his last-minute concert cancellation as he prepared to return to tour.

SPOILER ALERT – Do not read ahead if you have not watched the new episode of The Masked Singer!

Selome Hailu Now in her eighties, legendary children’s author Judy Blume only recently became keen to the idea of adapting her books for the screen. But when it came to “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” — arguably Blume’s most famous title — her arms were crossed. She didn’t want any filmmaker to touch it. “And then I got this letter from Kelly,” Blume told Variety, smiling, in a cover story for March’s Power of Women issue. She’s referring to “The Edge of Seventeen” writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig, to whom she eventually granted the screen rights. Blume was convinced for three reasons: the beauty of the letter that Fremon Craig wrote her, the fact that James L. Brooks mentored Fremon Craig and would serve as a producer on the film, and most importantly, the fact that Fremon Craig was the first person to pursue the rights whose work Blume had previously seen. Within a week of the letter, Fremon Craig and Brooks flew to Key West, Fla. to make an in-person plea to Blume; the rest is history. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” hit theaters via Lionsgate on April 28.

At a time when theatrical is looking to distinguish itself with more prolific fare than the factory conveyor belt of humdrum product coming from streaming, it’s with great upset to hear that Lionsgate’s feature adaptation of Judy Blume’s pinnacle 1970 novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret fell greatly short at the box office with a $6.8M opening; below both the $7M-$9M that the studio was seeing, and the more bullish $10M+ that rivals spotted.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s another weekend of box office domination for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which collected a towering $40 million in its fourth frame. Those ticket sales, down just 33% from the weekend prior, were easily enough to rule over the weekend’s newcomers, including literary adaptation “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” Finnish war drama “Sisu” and biopic “Big George Foreman.” After four weeks on the big screen, “Mario” has grossed $490 million in North America and $532 million internationally to loom even larger as the highest-grossing film of 2023. It’s also the first movie of the year to cross $1 billion globally, a distinction held by only five pandemic-era blockbusters.

J. Kim Murphy Are you there box office? It’s-a me, “Mario.” Now in its fourth weekend of release, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is still dominating the competition on domestic charts, fending off theatrical newcomers “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” “Sisu” and “Big George Foreman.” The adaptation of Judy Blume’s best-selling 1970 novel is faring the best among new releases. Opening in 3,343 locations, the coming-of-age film earned $2.25 million on Friday, a figure that includes roughly $600,000 in Thursday previews. That may be enough for the Lionsgate release to project a third place finish for the weekend, but it’s ultimately an underwhelming result for a crowdpleaser based on a literary mainstay that carries a $30 million production budget.

A political party! The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner is almost upon Us and some of the biggest names in Hollywood and government are expected to attend. 

As The Super Mario Bros Movie barrels toward a box office score that will make it the highest-grossing animated movie ever at the domestic box office, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 waits to pounce, Lionsgate is navigating the pre-summer calendar this weekend with two movies aimed at two different demos: the long-awaited feature take of Judy Blume’s 1970 novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret aimed at women, and their pickup of the Sony Stage 6 Finnish genre title Sisu, aimed at genre dudes.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, the adapted from of the same name. Fremon Craig's name is not on the billboard, but the billboard—and the movie—exists because of her. For nearly 50 years, after Blume's 1970 story about a young girl's honest and relatable journey through adolescence and puberty became a beloved classic, the 84-year-old icon (and ) turned down offers to adapt Margaret. It was too personal, too important for anyone to get other than absolutely right.

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, the film adaptation of Judy Blume‘s beloved novel, is now in theaters everywhere.

Brent Lang Executive Editor To get the chance to make a movie of Judy Blume’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” producer James L. Brooks and writer and director Kelly Fremon Craig made the pilgrimage to the beloved author’s home in Key West, Fla. “I spent most of our time with Judy warning her about Hollywood and all the things it will do to you — basically, I warned her about folks like me,” says Brooks, the Oscar-winning director of “Terms of Endearment” and the co-creator of “The Simpsons” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Blume chose not to heed the admonition. By the end of their sit-down, Brooks, Craig and Blume’s husband George were all hugging. The film rights were theirs. It turns out Brooks and Craig had an ace up their sleeve: Blume had loved their collaboration “The Edge of Seventeen,” a sensitively drawn look at a teenager navigating the minefield of high school while processing her dad’s death. It’s a coming-of-age tale that’s similar to “Are You There God?,” which depicts the challenges and mortifications of being on the cusp of puberty. On April 28, fans of the book will get to see how successfully Craig, Brooks and their collaborators pulled it off when the Lionsgate release opens in theaters.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.We’re so used to seeing teens played by twentys-omethings. What was it like casting actual 11-year-olds for this?Kelly Fremon Craig: The casting process was seeing every kid under the sun and really looking places that you don’t expect, trying to find kids from all over. A lot of the kids, this was their first ever thing.

a speech Tuesday before the North America’s Building Trades Unions Conference after announcing earlier in the day he would be running for re-election, delivered a cursory reference to his grandfather’s deah as he outlined his jobs and economic agenda. Fox News quickly picked up on it.“There was another one, to add to the president’s blooper reel of tall tales,” John Roberts said. “This one, about his coincidental family history, listen here.” Roberts and “America Reports” co-host Sandra Smith then played back the clip. “By the way, when ya do — think about it this way: my grandpop, who I never met, he died in the same hospital I was born in two weeks before I was born,” Biden said. Biden didn’t quite have his facts completely straight, according to Roberts. “An anecdote that is sure to pull on the heartstrings, but Sandra it’s a story that does not appear to have the added benefit of actual being true,” Roberts said.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle looked to be enjoying a date night on Monday as they attended a basketball game in Los Angeles, marking their first public appearance together in months. Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, watched the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in game four of the NBA playoffs on 24 April at the Crypto.com Arena in California. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were all smiles as they sat in a box at the arena together and even appeared on the big screen in front of 20,000 basketball fans - including the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Adam Sandler.

Legendary author Judy Blume has written 29 books and swore the only one she would never consider selling for the screen was 1970’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, her timeless coming-of-age book that became a rite of passage for just about every girl, like Margaret, going from age 11 to 12, and probably their mothers as well. Blume held fast until 2018 when writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig and her mentor, Oscar-winning filmmaker James L. Brooks, came calling with just the right idea for an adaptation. The deal was sealed. The movie is here. Blume says she is probably the only author to say the movie is better than her book.

When it comes to young adult literature, there are few books as universally beloved and influential for preteen girls as “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” Judy Blume’s seminal 1970 novel. Tackling everything from boys to periods to religion, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” was a groundbreaking exploration of so-called taboo topics that plague all young girls.

growing out her underarm hair.“It’s my body, it’s my choice,” Margolies, 42, a yoga teacher and mother of two from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, told The Post. “I stopped shaving because I couldn’t come up with a good reason for why I was doing it in the first place.”As a native of Bogotá, Colombia, Margolies — who moved to New York in 1999 — began shaving her underarms, eyebrows and legs at age 12, in accordance with cultural norms, which equated a hair-free body with femininity. But she never liked the pressure she felt around grooming.   “Women are taught that it’s not okay to have body hair,” she said.

Rachel McAdams returns to theaters later this month with “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” It’s a significant role for the actress and one she wanted to do. She can’t say the same for some of the huge movies she turned down in the mid-2000s, some of which are the decade’s biggest films.

Rachel McAdams recalled going braless to film her new movie “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” shortly after giving birth.