Back in August, one of our most favorite writer ever — that would be Judy Blume — tweeted: “So which of my books, kids and/or adult would you want to see adapted for series or movie? I ask because I’m in LA meeting with many talented people. I think the time has come.”
Enraptured fans flooded her with responses, as did all of us here at Kveller HQ.
And now, we finally know what the first on-screen adaptation is going to be! Blume has granted the rights to “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?”. We had really hoped for this one; as my colleague Emily Burack wrote: ” Why isn’t this a film yet with a bajillion Oscars?”
Well, it seems the film gods have heard our pleas!
Blume granted the rights to her iconic coming-of-age novel to James L. Brooks and Kelly Fremon Craig, the team behind the critically acclaimed coming-of-age movie The Edge of Seventeen (which stars Jewish actress Hailee Steinfeld).
Blume is apparently a big fan of the film! She wrote to Fremon Craig in an e-mail that she hoped that “if someone were to make a film of one of her books, she hoped it would have the same tone and feeling that The Edge of Seventeen had.” Sounds like a well-made match.
And like so many good things, we can thank a Jewish mother for this upcoming adaptation. Brooks’ daughter, Amy, had told Fremon Craig that she had recently read the book with her 10-year-old daughter, and how much she loved it. The two reminisced about the book.
Right after this, Fremon Craig said she read Blume’s tweet at 3 AM and wrote her reps to do whatever they could to get the rights to the movie. Then, she wrote Blume an e-mail: “I wrote a long and passionate email to her, telling her what her books meant to me, particularly Margaret, how it came along at a time when I needed it most.”
James L. Brooks is also a director and producer who has worked on iconic films like Big, Terms of Endearment and As Good As It Gets. How exciting is that?!
Though Margaret is nearly 50 years old, we think it’s still super-relevant for 2018. After all, it addresses many topics that are still not commonly dealt with in teen books and movies, like menstruation. And we look forward to a three-dimensional portrayal of what growing up in an interfaith marriage and having struggles with religion as a teen.
There’s no news of when the movie will come out — it will probably be at least a couple of years — but we are so excited. We’ll keep you posted!
