the animated hello kitty The film has been in the works since at least 2019, when Sanrio and new line signed a deal alongside FlynnPictureCo to bring the bow icon to the big screen. But it’s taken a while to see forward movement. A big update arrived today with the addition of a couple of new directors to the film, which last fall received a release date of July 21, 2028.
As The Hollywood Reporter tells us, hello kitty will now be directed by David Derrick Jr. (co-director of the 2024 blockbuster moana 2) and John Aoshima (co-director of the 2024 Netflix film Ultraman: on the rise). They replace veteran Disney animator Leo Matsuda (Zootopia Big Hero 6), who was previously announced as director.
THR also notes that “Although writing credits have yet to be determined, Jeff Chan is writing the current version of the script, following earlier drafts by Dana Fox, Katie Dippold, Adam Sztykiel, Jenny Jaffe, Lindsey Beer and Tamara Becher-Wilkinson. Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon wrote the script treatment.”
While the film project marks the first major studio licensing deal for Hello Kitty (and her wide range of cute friends), the character has been around since 1974 and maintains a large presence outside of her native Japan. There are still no details of the story for the hello kitty movie, but we can already imagine the aggressive amount of adorable merchandising that will accompany its release.
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