VANCOUVER, February 14, 2007 - Production began here this week on the feature film "Juno," a comedy starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Thirlby, JK Simmons, Allison Janney and Rainn Wilson it was announced today by Claudia Lewis, President of Production, Fox Searchlight Pictures. "Juno" is directed by Jason Reitman ("Thank You for Smoking") from an original screenplay by Diablo Cody, the first from this Minnesota native, and will shoot on location here through March.

"This is a movie about teenage girls who grow up way too fast and thirty year old men who refuse to grow up," director Reitman has said. "I can't think of anything more appropriate for the times."

Page plays the title character, a whip-smart teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker (Cera). With the help of her best friend Leah (Thirlby), Juno finds her unborn child a "perfect" set of parents: an affluent suburban couple, Mark and Vanessa (Bateman and Garner), longing to adopt. Luckily, Juno has the total support of her parents (Simmons and Janney) as she faces some tough decisions, flirts with adulthood and ultimately figures out where she belongs. Rainn Wilson will play a sneering yet sympathetic drug store clerk.

Ellen Page starred in the controversial film "Hard Candy" and appeared in "X-Men: The Last Stand"). "Juno" is a reunion of sorts for Jason Bateman and Michael Cera, who both starred in the acclaimed Fox comedy "Arrested Development." Jennifer Garner starred on ABC's "Alias" and is known for such films as "13 Going on 30." Olivia Thirlby recently starred in David Gordon Green's Sundance hit "Snow Angels." JK Simmons played Nick Naylor's boss in Reitman's hit "Thank You for Smoking." Allison Janney starred on NBC's "The West Wing" and will soon be seen in the upcoming movie musical "Hairspray." Rainn Wilson plays Dwight on the NBC hit series "The Office."

A Fox Searchlight Pictures release, "Juno" is produced by Mandate Pictures with Mr. Mudd. The film's producers are Mason Novick ("Red Eye") and Mr. Mudd partners John Malkovich, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith. Mandate's Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane serve as Executive Producers along with Daniel Dubiecki, Reitman's partner at Fox Searchlight-based Hard C. Jim Miller, who brought the project into Mandate, serves as co-producer along with the company's Kelli Konop. The production will be overseen by Lewis and Jeremy Steckler, Senior Vice President of Production for Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Fox Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both produces and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.