by Dave Corkery
There’s not too many behind the scenes stories that could themselves be made into a movie. But the ‘overnight success’ of Juno’s first time screenwriter Diablo Cody is as good a yarn as any. Scooped from her popular blog, ‘The Pussie Ranch,’ which followed her exploits as a stripper (you couldn’t make this stuff up), Cody was approached by producer Mason Novick to see if she had any screenplays floating around. Responding as most blogger/strippers probably would, she laughed and dismissed it. But Novack insisted, with a most serious face, that he was indeed interested and so, Juno was born (no pun intended)
Juno is the tale of a teenage girl (Ellen Page) who discovers a bun in her proverbial oven after a one-night stand with her geeky best friend Bleeker (Michael Cera). Deciding that abortion is not for her, she seeks out a couple suitable to adopt her soon to be newborn. And so she comes across an ad in the Penny Saver for seemingly perfect, upper middle-class couple Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman.)
