Japanese pop culture icon Hello Kitty will now be getting her very own movie. Japanese lifestyle company Sanrio is planning to finance and produce a feature based on the character and release it globally in 2019. The popular product can be seen all over the world as bags, purses, stuff animals, various forms of stationery, and much more. This also wouldn’t be the first time that the famous character has appeared in an animated form, as there has been a couple of series launched in past years. But the film would mark her first major cinematic debut. More on the story below.

According to Deadline, the project will have an expected budget of anywhere from $160 million to $240 million. That’s quite a huge price tag. But the brand is so popular, I’m betting that Sanrio expects fans to come in droves to see the film. The site adds Fox Animation acquired film rights to Sanrio’s Mr. Men and Little Miss characters in January. Sanrio managing director Rehito Hatoyama was appointed chief exec of the new U.S. unit and will oversee the Hello Kitty project.

Hello Kitty is a cute white cat (although, the company has said she’s actually a little girl) who sports a red bow and is known for her symmetrical whiskers. The product’s official Facebook website measures her height as five apples and her weight as three apples. Seems like an odd way to do it, but whatever makes her more cute and appealing to the target audience and fans.

In addition to products, the brand has also expanded to cafes, theme parks, Airbus A330-200 commercial passenger jet airliner, dubbed the Hello Kitty Jet, Hello Kitty Con, and hospitals – yes hospitals.

Sanrio is also considering developing some of their other characters.

Now this may sound like a completely crazy idea, but let’s not write off the Hello Kitty movie just yet. Remember how insane The LEGO Movie sounded at first? Then came the first trailer, followed by the film itself. Now The LEGO Movie has become a full-fledged franchise with sequels and spinoffs.

[Source: Deadline]