Actress Nia Vardalos, who is starring along side Jade Pettyjohn, in the upcoming American Girl movie slated for 2012 posted this photo of herself with Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby – who must be on the set for professional guidance since the movie is about “Velma” who is a gymnast – and regular American Girl author Mary Casanova who is writing the stories for the Girl of the Year 2012..

UPDATE: According to the Winnepeg Free Press the upcoming American Girl movie will star Nia Vardalos and newcomer Jade Pettyjohn as Velma, “a strong-willed young gymnast with Olympic aspirations, whose plans evaporate when she is sidelined by an injury”. Nia Vardalos is cast as her mother. They are still casting extras.

The film will be direct-to-video, much like the Chrissa movie was in 2009.

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Rumors of a new American Girl movie have been swirling around for some time, however, according to the website Extras Casting, it may be true.

According to the website, they are casting extras in Winnipeg for an upcoming American Girl film. The story synopsis according to the website is:

AMERICAN GIRL Velma is a wonderfully spirited, strong-willed young gymnast with Olympic aspirations, whose whole world comes crashing down when she is unexpectedly sidelined by an injury. Unfocused, with her grades slipping; she meets a tutor “Jane” and learns a few choice life lessons about what really matters.

Now I have no way of knowing if this website is indeed correct, but it would appear that this is not a Julie movie rather an American Girl of the Year story. And of course, there is no guarantee the names are accurate either.

A gymnastics themed movie would be fun – kind of like how Chrissa’s movie had the swimming component along with the anti-bullying storyline. I wonder if the reason there is no gymnastics outfit currently in the American Girl collection has to do with the creation of the new character’s items??  Another reason a gymnast would be a good option for 2012 is the 2012 Olympics will take place and we all know that gymnastics is one of the most popular events at the Olympic games. So many questions and all we can do is speculate!

PS – (Thanks Lena for sharing the link)

UPDATE NOVEMBER 22, 2010: It looks like Julie: An American Girl Musical is in development according to a very brief page on the NYTimes site. Details we may have:

• Screenplay – Matthew Weiss
• Producer – Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (the producer of all the previous American Girl movies)
  
• Goldsmith-Thomas Productions – Production Company
• HBO Films – Production Company

We will definitely keep you posted as we get more info!

I have read multiple articles and have had quiet a few readers tip me off to rumors that the next American Girl movie will be about Julie and will be a musical.

Here is a quote from Reelzchannel via the Complete Guide to American Girl Doll Collecting:

At a recent press day for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, producer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas confirmed that there are indeed plans for more American Girl movies in the pipeline.

The next American Girl to see her story make it to film? Julie Albright. “We are developing the Julie character,” Goldsmith-Thomas said, “and we’re doing her as a musical, as a high school musical.”

We’re going to have all those great songs from the ’70s,” she continued. “Julie: An American Girl Musical. It’s [set] in San Francisco.”

The movie is just in outline form as of now, so Goldsmith-Thomas was unable to confirm much more about it, but she did say the music will include both original songs written for the movie as well as music from the 1970s, and that they intend to do more open auditions like they did for Kit Kittredge. “Oh, you betcha,” she said.

This should be fun!

American Girl must be having good luck with their recent movies as they have already started production of a movie that will be released in January 2009 to go with the Girl of the Year doll for 2009. In a recent interview at the Kit Kittredge movie premiere, Sammi Hanratty, lets us in on a little secret:

Thanks to reader Lila for pointing us to the video.

One of our readers, Emily of Emily Rose, was lucky enough to see the Kit Kittredge – An American Girl movie already and has written a great review. From Emily -

I went to see this movie today with my parents and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The film takes place is the 1920’s and a very difficult time in America’s history.  The country is on the brink of The Great Depression when jobs are lost and people can’t pay their bills.  Kit lives in a lovely house in Cincinnati and her Dad runs a successful car dealership.  But times become tough and Kit’s world, and that of her family, takes a turn for the worse.  Kit’s Dad needs to go to Chicago to look for work and she and her Mom need to make ends meet at home.  To do this, they take in a selection of very different boarders; all with their own peculiar story.  Kit also has her Tree House Club where she and her friends can plan all sorts of adventures and try to forget the problems they have.  One of her interests is journalism and she wants to try her luck as a cub reporter.  A first story she wants to write is about her friends who live on the edge of town in a hobo camp.  When a spate of robberies is blamed on the hobos the story becomes more personal.  Kit goes on a quest with her friends to solve the mystery.

This is a very sweet movie and well made.  There seems to be more effort on this movie to make the story work and the characters more full than in the previous AG DVD’s.  The story is believable and gives a tremendous sense of what it must have been like during The Great Depression.  It is very cute to see Kit and her friends deal with their life and go out and solve the mystery together.  I would recommend the movie for all AG lovers and girls aged 7 to12.  By the way, I also think parents would love it.

We’d love to get more reader reviews! If you would like to write a review of the Kit movie or any other doll related movie, book or item, just send your review and how you want your name to appear to share@dolldiaries.com. Let us know if you took one or more of your dolls with you, were there lots of dolls in the audience, what did you think of the movie, what ages would enjoy it and so on.

The Kit Kittredge: An American Girl – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on June 17, 2008. The soundtrack includes a collection of classic songs from the 1930s and a few that are new/original pieces for the movie.

1. Side By Side (Puppini Sisters)
2. Ain’t We Got Fun (Renee Olstead)
3. When You’re Smiling (Billie Holliday)
4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Bridgette Bryant)
5. Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag (Spike Jones)
6. Playmates (Puppini Sisters)
7. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Cliff Edwards)
8. Don’t Fence Me In (Josh Turner)
9. My Shawl (Xavier Cugat)
10. Your Best Friend (Bridgette Bryant)
11. An American Girl (Joseph Vitarelli)
12. Kit (Joseph Vitarelli)

The movie’s cast includes Abigail Breslin, Chris O’Donnell, Joan Cusack, Stanley Tucci, Jane Krakowski, Julia Ormond, Willow Smith, Austin Macdonald, Zach Mills, and Madison Davenport.

There is also information about the Kit Movie and Soundtrack in the most recent edition of Discovery Girl magazine (thanks to reader Alexandra for sharing this).