Hello Kitty has a movie deal. For the first time in her 45-year history, an English language feature film featuring the iconic character is being developed for a worldwide audience.
It is not yet known whether the film will be live-action or animated, but New Line Cinema, Sanrio, and FlynnPictureCo. are making it happen. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, opening-up cinematic expansion for an already robust line of toys and consumer products — more than 50,000 different items a year, without a movie.
Sanrio Founder, President, and CEO Shintaro Tsuji said, “I am extremely pleased that Hello Kitty and other popular Sanrio characters will be making their Hollywood debut. Hello Kitty has long been a symbol of friendship and we hope this film will only serve to grow that circle of friendship around the world.”
The Hello Kitty movie will be produced by Beau Flynn (Rampage) and executive produced by Wendy Jacobson (San Andreas) for FlynnPictureCo.
It took nearly five years to secure the rights to develop Hello Kitty for the big screen. Writers and talent are not yet attached.