Earlier this week, in her post about the Doctor Strange press tour, Sarah wondered about Rachel McAdams who, so far, has not joined Team Strange for any promotion. Turns out Rachel’s promotional obligations this week had her heading to Vegas for CinemaCon, giving us an opportunity for a little Gossip Nostalgia.
CinemaCon used to be called ShoWest. The function of the event is the same, they just rebranded it in 2010. Back when it was still ShoWest though, Rachel attended a few times – including in 2005 when she was named Supporting Actress of the Year. Here she is with her award:
That was March 2005. Mean Girls came out the year before, in April 2004. Two months later, The Notebook was released and became the sleeper romantic drama of the summer. When was the last time we referred to a movie as a “sleeper hit”?
Anyway, Rachel was on the rise. I don’t have to tell you the cultural impact of both of those movies and the cultural impact of this moment, which happened in June of 2005, not too long after Rachel’s appearance at ShoWest:
Right? Don’t like, a lot of those old feels just came back.
Anyway, Rachel returned to ShoWest in 2009 when she was named Female Star of the Year. By then, the celebrity love story known as Rachel and Ryan was over. For good.
Don’t despair, everyone has moved on, and happily. And besides, let me show you something just as good, if not better:
Pretty sure this is the first time Rachel and Keanu Reeves have ever been photographed together and what’s significant about this is that they were actually supposed to star in Passengers back in 2014 until Rachel dropped out of the project. The movie eventually got made with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence and came out in 2016 at the height of their box office powers…and it was a bust. Pointless to think about what the film would have been had it been Keanu and Rachel but all these years later, we finally get to see them in one shot.
As for why Rachel was there – she too was part of the Lionsgate presentation to promote …and you’re gonna love this…
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know there have a lot of trailers shown at CinemaCon this week, and I want to see all of them. But this is the one, this is the one I’m most desperate for. Word is the audience was delighted by the footage and, yes, the preview ended with that line, one of the most famous lines from any English-language book ever:
“I must, I must, I must increase my bust.”
Rachel plays Margaret’s mom with Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret. Kelly Fremon Craig is the director and if you’ve seen The Edge of Seventeen, this should give you a lot of confidence because she was behind that movie too. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret opens just in time for the start of a new school year. I’m hoping it’ll come to TIFF, just like The Edge of Seventeen, which premiered at the festival on September 16, 2016 which just happens to be the release date of Margaret. A good omen.
