Hello Kitty Gets A Movie Deal

By Reggie's Take on March 6, 2019

If your a fan of Hello Kitty then you will have to give a shout out of excitement for the feline who doesn’t have a mouth as New Line Cinema acquires the film rights.

Produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, Hello Kitty has been around for 45 years as a fictional cartoon character. Described as a female Gijinka whose an everlasting 3rd-grade student living outside of London with a red bow and no mouth.

Warner Brothers who owns New Line Cinema announced on Tuesday that the movie studio had acquired the film rights to Hello Kitty from the Japanese corporation Sanrio. This new partnership marks the only time that Sanrio has granted film rights to Hello Kitty. New Line said it won’t waste any time and plans to begin work on a script to put into production.

Warner Brothers is not unfamiliar when it comes to making movies from toys and has had success in the past with such films as “The Lego Movie.” The challenge for Warner Brothers and New Line is fairly steep since Hello Kitty has never talked or changed facial expressions her entire forty-five year existence.

Sanrio founder, President and CEO Shintaro Tsuji talked about the deal saying, “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.”

New Line’s Chief Creative Officer and President/Chief Content Officer released a joint statement saying, “We are thrilled to partner with Sanrio and FlynnPictureCo. on developing a film based on this treasured icon. It’s a rare privilege to have the opportunity to explore the possibilities of such timeless IP. Hello Kitty and her friends have been part of our shared culture for decades, and we look forward to exploring where her newest adventure will take her.”

It’s important to note that New Line Cinema did not mention if this movie would be an animated or a live action film. If I was a betting man I would have to say it would be animated, but we will have to wait and see. They also didn’t say when Hello Kitty would hit theaters.

Reggie’s Take:

It should be noted that I’m not a Hello Kitty fan and I never thought when I began Reggie’s Take eight years ago that I would ever do a post about the speechless feline. If you are a fan of Hello Kitty then I hope this news is exciting.