HBO Films and Picturehouse have put Patricia Rozema (I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, Mansfield Park) in the director’s chair for the first feature adaptation of an American Girl book.

The US$13-million film, Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery, stars Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) as a Depression-era child coping with abject poverty. Rounding out the cast are Joan Cusack, Chris O’Donnell and Julia Ormond. It is shooting in Toronto until early July.

‘To people who know Toronto, it’s going to be very obvious we shot the film here, even though it’s not set here. We’re leaving recognizable places and buildings in the background,’ says Rozema.

The screenplay is by Ann Peacock (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe), and the film is coproduced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas of HBO Films, Ellen L. Brothers of American Girls and Lisa Gillan of Red Om Films. Actress Julia Roberts, of Red Om, is the exec producer. The film is slated for a 2008 release.

Three American Girl MOWs have previously shot in Toronto. The American Girl books have also inspired a best-selling series of toy dolls by Mattel.