Lionsgate hires Dylan Mulvaney to cover struggling ‘Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret’s movie

Controversial trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney has been added to the promotional campaign for Lionsgate’s struggling adaptation of Judy Blume’s seminal novel ‘Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret.’

The film, which stars Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates and tells the story of the title character’s coping with faith and puberty in New Jersey, has struggled at the box office so far, earning just $16 million in three weeks. .

Despite the fact that the film has a 99 percent critical rating Rotten tomatoes — along with an equally impressive 94 percent ratings — the movie failed to recoup its $30 million budget.

That prompted Lionsgate studio to “form a last-minute paid partnership to bring attention to the film” with Mulvaney – whose Bud Light ad has driven sales up to 20 percent a week – by conducting an interview. posting with celebrated author Blume on TikTok, according to Hollywood in Toto.

“Is it you God, it’s me, Dylan!” Mulvaney excitedly begins the clip, which she captioned by calling Blume “one of my heroes.” Blume recently bounced back after sharing her support for fellow author JK Rowling, who came under fire for saying trans women should not be allowed in some women-only spaces.

‘Buy tickets and take your mother, grandmother or the mother figure in your life to Are You There God? #ItsMeMargaret this Mother’s Day weekend. It’s the iconic story we all love, finally on the big screen! #lionsgatepartner,” she added in the caption.

Mulvaney spoke to Blume about free speech and banning books like hers.

“What I’m saying now is that having lived through the 1980s with the book ban, what’s happening now is scarier and much worse,” Blume countered.

Blume, 85, known for teen novels Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret and Deenie, said she wanted to show empathy with Rowling as someone “who has been harassed online.”

The New Jersey-born writer said her comments to the Sunday Times about Rowling were “taken out of context” in a tweet today, defending herself against the criticism she faced for the interview.

“I support the trans community and strongly disagree with anyone who is not in favor of equality and acceptance for LGBTQIA+ people. Anything else is total bull****.”

Still, when Mulvaney asked him how “young creatives” should share their stories despite being “afraid of societal backlash,” Blume said they ignored the censorship.

It’s unclear if Blume’s partnership with Mulvaney was conceived as part of a damage-limitation campaign in the face of the Rowling controversy.

Rowling has been heavily criticized in recent years for her comments on trans rights and has faced backlash from LGBTQ groups, but has denied being transphobic.

Abby Ryder Fortson stars as the titular character in Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret

The film, which stars Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates and tells the story of the title character’s coping with faith and puberty in New Jersey, has struggled at the box office so far, earning just $16 million in three weeks. .

Judy Blume, 85, known for young adult novels Are You There God? It’s me, said her comments about supporting JK Rowling were taken out of context

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been heavily criticized in recent years for her comments on trans rights

Blume has also faced online abuse in the past because of themes in her books, usually coming of age stories that shed light on adolescent sexuality and puberty.

The author of the article, journalist Hadley Freeman, previously described herself as a “gender-critical feminist” who shares similar views to Rowling’s.

Blume seemed to agree with Freeman about her love for the Harry Potter author, saying of Rowling in the interview, “And I love her… I’m 100 percent behind her when I watch from a distance.”

She added that she hadn’t contacted Rowling due to online comments, saying, “I met her very early in her Harry Potter career and she said to me, ‘Oh, my sister and I read all your books.’ and she talked about Deenie.

“I think we wrote each other notes once or twice. But I have had no contact with her during this difficult time. I probably should.’

In a tweet last night refuting the Sunday Times characterization of her comments, Blume was clear about her feelings about the article.

She continued, “What are you protecting your children from? Protecting your children means educating and arming them with knowledge, and reading and supporting what they want to read.

“No child becomes transgender or gay or lesbian because they read a book. It’s not going to happen. They can say, ‘Oh, this is just like me. This is what I feel and think.”

Or, “I’m interested in this because I have friends who might be gay, bi, or lesbian.” They want to know!’

“I just read a book that was wonderfully enlightening for me. It’s called ‘Genderqueer’ [a memoir by Maia Kobabe]. It’s probably the #1 banned book in America right now.

And I thought, “This young person is telling me how they got to be what they are today.” And I learned a lot and became even more empathetic. That’s what books are about.’

Blume was criticized by some for sympathizing with Rowling, with trans rights supporters saying “people need to stop taking criticism as harassment.”

Bud Light’s sales drop of as much as 20 percent week-over-week could become the “new normal” following the company’s disastrous Dylan Mulvaney debacle.

Industry analysts have warned that unless something drastic changes, negative volume trends will continue into the summer months, due to the beer brand’s partnership with the transgender influencer.

For the week ending May 6, Bud Light retail sales in the US were down 23.6 percent compared to the previous year. And the week before, ending April 29, sales were down 23.3 percent.

This follows sales declines for the week ending April 22, which were 21.4 percent. And seven days earlier, the dip was 17 percent, according to NielsenIQ data provided to Dailymail.com by Bump Williams Consultancy.

Dylan Mulvaney, 26, posted her first collaboration with Bud Light on April 1.

Bump Williams, an alcohol industry analyst, said Bud Light sales could continue to fall as much as 20 percent a week after the beer company’s debacle with Dylan Mulvaney

The controversial trans influencer was sent a can of Bud Light with her face on it to celebrate her transition from male to female one year ago.

The data – which shows sales in the US are falling by as much as 20 percent each week – has since been described as “poor” by industry experts.

Bump Williams of Bump Williams Consultancy told DailyMail.com, “I don’t think the sales/volume declines will get any worse, but I do think their negative volume trends will continue.”

He said a 20 percent drop in sales appears to be the new “normal” for Bud Light.

But he added that experts are waiting to see what will happen to sales during Memorial Day and the summer sales season to assess whether the damage will continue.

Williams, who specializes in the alcohol industry, told the St Louis Business Journal: “This seems to be where the brand’s weekly declines are starting to settle in, with a -20% drop in the past week.

“I wonder if this will be the ‘bottom’ for the expected decline in Bud Light going forward, unless something drastic changes.”

DailyMail.com reached out to Lionsgate and Anheuser-Busch for further comment.