'Hello Kitty' Movie Finally Finds Directors For The Live-Action/Animation Hybrid
Hollywood has been trying to bring the Japanese pop culture creation Hello Kitty to the big screen for years, and now the long-gestating Hello Kitty movie finally has a pair of directors.
Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda will direct the live-action/animation hybrid for New Line, though unfortunately, plot details are currently as elusive as a laser pointer's red dot is to a curious kitten. Learn more about these filmmakers below.
According to Deadline, Coyle and Matsuda beat out "many other directors" for this job, which will mark the feature directorial debut for each of them. Coyle's previous credits include directing episodes of Bob's Burgers and The Spectacular Spider-Man and serving as a supervising producer on HBO Max's Harley Quinn animated series, while Matsuda worked as a story artist for Disney films like Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia and directed the highly amusing Pixar short film Inner Workings. Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess is a Loser, the upcoming The Kingkiller Chronicle film) wrote the screenplay, and Beau Flynn (Rampage, San Andreas) is set to produce the movie.
The Hello Kitty character is a female gijinka (personification of a cat). She's has been around for more than 45 years, and is at the center of an $8 billion global sensation that not only counts millions of children as fans, but adults as well. This marks the first time a studio will be bringing the character to the big screen, a task studios have been trying to accomplish since 2015. Exactly what a Hello Kitty movie might be about, however, remains to be seen. Will this be like The LEGO Movie – one of those ideas that sounds awful at first and ends up turning out to be surprisingly great? Or maybe like The Emoji Movie – an idea that sounds awful at first and actually is awful? Or perhaps it'll be more akin to The Playmobil Movie – a thing that really happened but leaves zero cultural footprint whatsoever. Low expectations are probably your friend in this case.
"This is not only a rare chance to bring a beloved character to life, but also to spread the message of love, friendship and inclusivity that Hello Kitty stands for," Coyle said in a statement. "The world so needs her brand of joy and happiness."
"Growing up in Brazil with a Japanese family, I was surrounded by the whimsy of Hello Kitty and it served as a reminder that it's okay to be different," Matsuda said. "Along with Jen, FlynnPictureCo. and New Line, I am delighted by this incredible opportunity to work with one of the most universally beloved characters and expand their relatable Sanrio stories even further."