Mattel, MGM Partner for Live-Action American Girl Motion Picture

Mattel, Inc. and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures (MGM) will develop a live-action motion picture based on Mattel’s American Girl line of dolls and books. The news comes as Toy Fair New York begins and Mattel rolls out its new product and project announcements. Mattel Films, MGM, and PICTURESTART’s Erik Feig will produce. Cassidy Lange, MGM’s co-president of production and Robbie Brenner, Mattel Films’ executive producer will oversee production.

“American Girl is a beloved, story-driven franchise lending itself perfectly to a feature film,” says Ynon Kreiz, Mattel’s chairman and CEO. “In MGM and Erik we have world-class partners and we look forward to working with them to give our passionate American Girl fans of all ages another way to connect with this iconic brand.”

American Girl characters were first introduced in 1986 and have since offered an inspiring world of dolls, original content, and experiences that nourish a girl’s spirit and help develop her strength of character. Over 32 million American Girl dolls and 157 million American Girl books have been sold through the company’s catalog, retail stores and website. American Girl’s popular character stories have previously been adapted into several successful films made for television and culminated in Picturehouse and New Line Cinema’s feature adaptation of the Kit Kittredge character with Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, starring Abigail Breslin.

Mattel is making a big play for television and film. Mattel Films recently partnered with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop live-action films based on Hot Wheels and Barbie, and a reimagining of He-Man and The Masters of The Universe is in-development at Sony Pictures.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book and Co-President of The International Toy Magazines Association (ITMA). He is also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC), New York Comic Con, Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.