Trivia / Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

• Acclaimed Flop: Critics loved Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, many of them walking into the theatre expecting to hate it and ending up gushing about it. Despite that, theatres didn't feel the same way about scheduling it, nor did audiences about seeing it if they even knew it was out. While it did eventually make its money back ($17,655,201 against a $10 million budget), this was in spite of earning money at a snail's pace and having virtually no presence in international cinemas.
• California Doubling: Owing to budget constraints, Kit Kittredge was filmed in and around Toronto, and in Tottenham, Ontario, which stood in for Cincinnati.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Abigail Breslin wore a blonde wig for the title role, and Madison Davenport, who is naturally blonde, had to dye her hair to a brunette shade for her part as Ruthie.
• Franchise Killer: Killed adaptations of the historical AG books for a long time, as it didn't sell well given how this was a niche film at best and barely advertised except through AG channels (which hit the active fandom but not the lapsed nostalgia market that would have boosted numbers). It didn't help that the previous year's Bratz adaptation made theatre owners leery with showing "yet another doll movie". American Girl has never returned to theatres, though they did eventually start adapting the historical books again for Amazon Prime Video, and there were reports about a future theatrical adaptation with MGM; in 2023 it was confirmed that Mattel will be collaborating with Paramount on a live-action film based on the series, following the success of the live-action Barbie movie.
• Screwed by the Network: Several theaters who were burned by the experience of the Bratz movie often barely advertised this one or waited up to a month after it came out to begin showing it, despite having good reviews.