"Kit Kittredge" may seem old but times change
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Getting movie fans to relate to a young heroine based on a doll living in the 1930s is no easy task, but the makers of "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" think they have one factor in their favor -- the troubled U.S. economy.
Last year the makers of box office flop "Bratz: The Movie," which also was aimed at girls and based on the sassy Bratz dolls, found out that audiences want more than just a beloved toy around which to make a film. They want a good story.
"Kittredge" expands across the United States on Wednesday after earning mostly positive reviews in major cities, which should make its backers -- actress Julia Roberts, her sister Lisa Gillan, producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and studio Picturehouse -- confident they have a good story to tell.
The stumbling U.S. economy gives the "Kittredge" makers another leg up, they said, because modern girls may identify with the trials of growing during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"The strength of the historical (American Girl) characters is they make you look back and realize there is nothing you are going through that you can't overcome because people have done it before," Goldsmith-Thomas told Reuters. "It makes you understand and relate to it, on a human level."
Since 1986, American Girl has sold more than 14 million dolls and 123 million books. Their popularity has spawned a chain of retail stores and catalogs selling fashion accessories and numerous other products.
After finding success with three made-for-TV movies produced by Goldsmith-Thomas, the company decided it was time to tap into movie audiences.
A "NATURAL STEP"
"We always felt like this was a natural next step, and it was obvious to us from the start that our movie partners really understood the power of the brand and what the characters meant to girls," said an American Girl spokeswoman.
Kit's story is that she grew up in a hard time when people were out of work, and she used her resourcefulness to help her family, friends and those in need.
In the movie, nine-year-old Kit (Abigail Breslin of "Little Miss Sunshine") is a spunky kid reporter trying to place stories to her town paper, the Cincinnati Register.
When her own dad loses his job, Kit's mom opens their home to boarders, and events in and around the Kittredge household become a testament to human resilience -- including when Kit's friend finds her home foreclosed upon by the bank.
So far, "Kittredge" has lured loyal American Girl fans and scored well with critics. It has won praise in some 80 percent of reviews compiled by Web site rottentomatoes.com, and in five theaters last weekend, it earned $21,400 per venue compared to $15,800 for No. 1 movie "Wall-E" in nearly 4,000 locations.
"Bratz," a tale of modern teens, was panned by critics and opened with $2,800 per theater in about 1,500 locations. Overall, it earned only about $10 million at U.S. box offices.
Picturehouse chief Bob Berney, who engineered the launch of the hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," reckons "Bratz" failed because it was too "edgy" and pushed too far the boundaries of what was acceptable for young girls and parents.
He said the producers initially were concerned about whether kids today would understand the Great Depression and its impact on everyday lives. That concern is now gone.
"Unfortunately, reality has caught up with us," he said.
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb)
