How Kelly Fremon Craig Convinced Judy Blume to Let Her Make Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Lorraine Kelly has revealed a brand new career move after 30 years of appearing on-screen. The presenter, who hosts her own self-titled show every weekday morning on ITV, has announced she will be releasing her debut novel, which is due to be published next year.

Sheridan Smith has shared a number of sweet posts to Instagram of her son Billy and pal Sandy Ryan. In the posts - shared to her Instagram grid and Instagram stories - Billy can be seen wearing boxer Sandy Ryan’s World Championship belt, and later messing around with the boxer. In one story shared to Instagram, giving fans a rare glimpse of three-year-old Billy, Sheridan - who was joined by her athlete pal WBO Welterweight winner Sandy - joked that the prize was a “bit heavy” for her son.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Negotiators for the Directors Guild of America on Tuesday gave a video preview of their upcoming talks with the studios, saying they are “fighting to receive our fair share of the new, global future.” The DGA begins its round of bargaining on Wednesday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The guild is focused on rewriting the streaming residual formula to account for the growth in foreign subscribers. “The explosive popularity of streaming around the world has transformed how, and where, our work is viewed, and our contracts must adapt to changing production and distribution,” said Karen Gaviola, negotiations co-chair.

Glam goals! Nicole Scherzinger shimmered onstage during King Charles III’s coronation concert on Sunday, May 7. 

EXCLUSIVE: Alison Oliver (Saltburn), Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country), Marc Maron (To Leslie) and Odessa Young (The Staircase) have closed deals to join The Order, the crime thriller to be directed for Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios by Justin Kurzel, which is heading into production on Wednesday.

Catherine, Princess of Wales‘ family arrived at Westminster Abbey to support King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Coronation on Saturday (May 6) in London, England.

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.

Few authors have established as powerful a bond with their fans as Judy Blume. That incredible connection first manifested with the publication of her debut novel for young adults, 1970’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, which shattered taboos by candidly addressing subjects like menstruation and masturbation.  

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.

Princess Catherine made a rare statement about her late mother-in-law Princess Diana this week.

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 film adaptation of Judy Blume‘s beloved novel, is now in theaters everywhere.

Live With Kelly and Mark” episode.Ripa, 52, brought up the popularity of butt implant reversals, prompting Consuelos, 52, to ask his wife, “Would you do something like that? Would you do the big butt thing?”Ripa appeared confused and flipped the question back to her husband, demanding, “You tell me.”Her new co-host awkwardly laughed it off, saying, “I don’t know.”“I just feel like there are so many other places I’d rather put implants,” Ripa responded.Consuelos playfully agreed with her.However, audience members gasped loudly, taking his response as a diss.Consuelos chimed back in and pointed a finger toward the audience, saying, “Stop it. Stop it.

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.

, was published in 1970. She's been our advisor and confidante on everything from bras, bullying, and of course, periods.

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.

Angelique Jackson Literary icon Judy Blume has been in the public eye for more than 50 years, but lately she’s been posing for even more cameras than usual. For the past few months, Blume has been everywhere — from the red carpet premiere of the feature adaptation of her 1970 classic “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” in Los Angeles last week, to Variety’s Power of Women ceremony in New York City, where she was honored earlier this month. But on Monday night in Studio City, Calif., it was Blume’s husband George Cooper on the other side of a cell phone camera lens. As Blume was introduced to an eager (and pink-masked) crowd by 16-year-old Annabelle Chang, who owns Annabelle’s Book Club LA, Cooper sprang from his seat behind the desk to capture the moment on his cell phone.

No bad blood! Scarlett Johansson made a rare comment revealing how she feels about ex-husband Ryan Reynolds.