Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

July 8, 2008

They had a long day.

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This adorable little tyke will totally win your heart! No? Maybe on video?

Kim Hollis: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl earned only $6.1 million since Wednesday, including $3.6 million over the three-day portion of the weekend. Why did this Picturehouse release bomb so completely?

Tim Briody: I blame the lack of "Superfreak" in this Abigail Breslin movie. Otherwise, they're frigging dolls. Having a live action adaptation is extra creepy. Have we learned nothing from Bratz?

Jason Lee: Is anyone weirded out by Abigail Breslin's picture in the poster? She looks like one of the Children of the Corn to me. That alone would have kept me away from the theatre.

Joel Corcoran: This is the very definition of a "family-friendly" movie based on an incredibly popular line of toys. And it received pretty good reviews. I have no idea how it became the biggest bomb of the summer. Maybe Tim has it right with the Bratz analogy. Or maybe they should've started with a story not set in the Great Depression when we're facing the real-life prospect of another, even greater depression. Or maybe we should just blame Chris O'Donnell like we usually do.

Brandon Scott: I think the audience was a bit confused by the title. I always thought Kitt was a car, not a girl. Something just doesn't compute.

Scott Lumley: Well, we could blame it on a trailer that is eye-rollingly bad. We could blame that fact that the pedophile market really is small and not much of a demographic. Or we could blame it on the fact that this is a film about living in depression times and fighting off a foreclosure when we are enduring a depression and millions of people are enduring foreclosures. We go to movies to escape reality, not be reminded of how much our lives suck.

David Mumpower: When I did the write-up for this ages ago, I joked to my wife about what a trainwreck of a project this was going to be. To my surprise, she stated with confidence that it would be a huge hit due to the popularity of the dolls. What I have learned from this is that my wife is not 100% infallible...and yes, this knowledge will be used against her.




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Daron Aldridge: It is based upon a doll/book line that is past the height of popularity and doesn't have the kitschy, nostalgia factor of Transformers or G.I. Joe. Also, I know that I am not the target audience but I saw no commercials at all and my awareness of the title was virtually nonexistent. Poor Willow Smith didn't have as good of a weekend as dad.

Max Braden: Well, the first tip should have been "Picturehouse." Can you name another Picturehouse movie off the top of your head? But in fact, Kit Kittredge is their widest release to date and it has already grossed more than Run, Fatboy, Run did in its entire U.S. run. From their point of view, things are probably still looking up.

Reagen Sulewski: Yeah, Picturehouse can't seem to promote itself out of a wet paper bag. Admittedly, I watch very little TV targeted at pre-teen girls (Miley who?) but this is a film I wouldn't know existed if I didn't pay attention to every release. I'm a bit surprised it couldn't match Nancy Drew, but again, I think that comes down to simple awareness.

Kim Hollis: Well, Picturehouse has been shut down, of course, so Warner Bros. is really just playing out the string with anything they might have left to release anyway.

Calvin Trager: You guys are all over the place. It's not a family-friendly release at all. Reagen accurately described the demo in his forecast as pre-teen girls and their mothers. Movies that alienate 50% of the population should not be released on holiday weekends with a strong tradition of families spending time together as a family.


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