‘Judy Blume Forever’: How to Watch the Heartwarming Doc Online

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo. It is predicted to take home $250 million worldwide on its opening weekend, Forbes reported.

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.

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.

“Nothing in any future I see can replace the communal theatrical experience,” emphasized Lionsgate Motion Picture Chair Adam Fogelson at the top of Lionsgate CinemaCon presentation, which closed out the 2023 Las Vegas confab this afternoon.

The new movie Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is hitting theaters this weekend and we caught up with rising star Abby Ryder Fortson to learn more about her!

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.

Guy Lodge Film Critic “Carmen” didn’t begin life as an opera: French Romantic writer Prosper Mérimée conceived this tale of Spanish passion and tragic jealousy in 1845, thirty years before his compatriot Georges Bizet brought it into its best-known, aria-rich form. But it’s a story that thrives on operatic delivery, hinging on emotions so large and loud they beg to be sung at the top of one’s lungs. That makes it the opera that filmmakers can’t leave alone, even as they tend to switch out the music: Its screen interpretations range from Otto Preminger’s Broadway-rooted “Carmen Jones” to Jean-Luc Godard’s daring, Beethoven-infused “First Name: Carmen” to Robert Townsend’s Beyoncé-starring “Carmen: A Hip-Hopera.” With the plainly titled “Carmen,” ballet star and first-time feature director Benjamin Millepied joins that club, mostly eschewing song in an attempt to conjure the material’s intensity through dance. He is only intermittently successful.

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.

As the working week nears its end, it’s time for some more great films and TV shows to drop on streaming services. If you’re wondering what new content you can sink your teeth into this weekend, we know just the thing.

Rachel McAdams is looking forward to sharing her new film with her kids as she stars in the film adaptation of Judy Blume's iconic 1970 coming-of-age novel, ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke with McAdams at the Los Angeles premiere of her new movie, in which she plays Barbara Simon, mother to the film's titular Margaret Simon (played by Abby Ryder Fortson).Reflecting on showing the film — which candidly and honestly details a young girl's spiritual quest and her efforts to navigate puberty, emotional maturity and deep philosophical questions — McAdams said of showing the film to her young daughter sometime in the future, «I just hope she's not embarrassed.»McAdams and her partner, Jamie Linden — who are famously private about their personal lives — share a 5-year-old son and a daughter they welcomed sometime in late 2020 or early 2021.«She probably will be [embarrassed], so I'm just gonna prepare myself for that,» McAdams added with a laugh. «But I'm really excited to show it to my son too!»«I feel like it's great for guys to see behind the scenes... to just normalize what's really normal and create compassion between the sexes,» McAdams added. «So I hope a lot of boys will go and see this with their moms, or their dads too.»As for reflecting on her own childhood while starring in the coming-of-age story, McAdams joked that there was «a little PTSD there, yeah, I'm not gonna lie.

the Sunday Times. She was discussing her long career and the upcoming adaptation of her book, “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret,” starring Rachel McAdams. Reporter Hadley Freeman also asked Blume about fellow popular children’s book author J.K. Rowling, 57, who has become a controversial figure for her views on the transgender community, for which Rowling has received death threats.