Subscribe
Follow Us
You may have known that The Edge of Seventeen — a high school coming-of-age film starring Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson — almost got a spin-off series. But the story of how it came to be is simply fascinating.
Given that high school movies don't make enough money nowadays, it's almost surprising that a film like The Edge of Seventeen was considered to have its universe expanded. That's not to suggest that all high school movies flop. Every once in a while, you get a Blockers, which grossed $94 million. But in this day and age, Booksmart ($25 million) and Eighth Grade ($14 million) are more realistic for the genre's box office range. The Edge of Seventeen fell between those two — making $19.3 million during its theatrical run.
While not an overwhelming success financially, in 2018, it was announced that a TV spin-off series of The Edge of Seventeen would be coming to YouTube Red. The film's director, Kelly Fremon Craig, was attached to be an executive producer on the project. However, this wasn't a popular decision.
“I actually didn't want to do a TV show spin-off, but they [STX] own the rights,” Fremon Craig said with a laugh during our chat about her second film, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
When she showed some resistance to the idea of a spin-off, the folks at STX said they were going to sell the rights to the property. “So they said, ‘Well, we're selling it,' so they set it up with, at that time it was YouTube Red, so the show was going [to happen] whether I liked it or not.”
So in an effort to make the best out of a crappy situation, Fremon Craig attached herself to the project. “If it's going, I might as well jump in and try to guide it because if it exists, I'd like to at least try to make it good.”
She then assisted the studio in finding a young writer-director that could tell a story that was “in tandem” with The Edge of Seventeen. Annabel Oakes was set to pen the pilot and Isabelle Fuhrmann and Liana Liberato were both cast in the series. While it wouldn't have shared any characters including Hailee Steinfeld's Nadine or Woody Harrelson's guidance character, it would have “existed in the same world” and with the same “tone,” she assured me.
But it's still a coming-of-age film, right? So how do you create a new story in a genre that doesn't generally lend itself to sequels? You'd almost just have to reboot and remake the whole thing. I brought up that concern, to which Fremon Craig shook her head in agreement.
At the end of the day, the story of the Edge of Seventeen series “was about two high school girls. It was very much about female friendship and how complicated that can be and relationships with parents.” And while it shared some thematic elements with the film counterpart, Fremon Craig assured me that the series “was really sort of its own thing.”
Article Continues Below
All this worry was for nothing, as the Edge of Seventeen spin-off series never happened. It probably came as a sigh of relief to Fremon Craig, who didn't seem enthused by the prospect of a series in the first place. As you may have realized by this point, YouTube Red is no longer a thing. She revealed, with a smile, that “right in the middle of us making it — I mean, I think we were just in the middle of finishing our edit — YouTube Red imploded. So the studio went away.”
It's fair to say things worked out. The Edge of Seventeen remains a coming-of-age classic, and Kelly Fremon Craig is off doing her thing. Her adaptation of Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is one of the year's best films (and remains the favorite of yours truly).
If you're anything like me, you will have noticed that each of Fremon Craig's two films has aged its main characters down. The Edge of Seventeen was a high school film, but Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret was centered around middle school-aged pre-teens. This made me wonder: Would her next film go up in age and be a college film or go down to elementary school? It's a question that hit me the second the credits rolled on Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and I'm glad to report the answer.
“Oh, gosh, I think I'd probably go older — but who knows?” she said with a smile.
She clearly was entertained by my question and continued explaining why she'd go older. “I love working with young actors — kid and teen actors — I think it's so much fun and they're so open and I like to do a lot of improvisation, and it's exciting to see them start to trust themselves and really ride their own instincts.”
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital platforms now.
