Juno is a
2007 Canadian-
American comedy-drama film directed by
Jason Reitman and written by
Diablo Cody.
Ellen Page stars as the
title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her.
Michael Cera,
Olivia Thirlby,
J.K. Simmons,
Allison Janney,
Jennifer Garner, and
Jason Bateman also star. Filming spanned from early February to March 2007 in
Vancouver,
British Columbia. The film premiered on September 8 at the 2007
Toronto International Film Festival, receiving a standing ovation.
The film won the
Academy Award for
Best Original Screenplay and earned three other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Page. The film's soundtrack, featuring several songs performed by
Kimya Dawson in various guises, was the first number one soundtrack since
Dreamgirls and 20th Century Fox's first number one soundtrack since
Titanic.
Juno earned back its initial budget of $6.5 million in twenty days, the first nineteen of which were when the film was in
limited release.
The film has gone on to earn more than 35 times that amount for a total of $231 million, becoming the highest grossing film in distributor
Fox Searchlight Pictures's history.
Juno received numerous positive reviews from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. The film has also received both criticism and praise from members of both the
pro-life and
pro-choice communities regarding its treatment of
abortion.