Los Angeles, July 5 (IANS) A feature film based on Hello Kitty, a fictional character produced by the Japanese lifestyle company Sanrio, will hit the theatres in 2019.

According to Sanrio executives, “Hello Kitty” will have a big budget around $160 million to $240 million, including prints and advertisement cost, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Sanrio has established a US-based company, Sanrio Media and Pictures Entertainment, to help develop the Japanese company’s intellectual property worldwide.

The company’s managing director Rehito Hatoyama was appointed the chief executive of the new US unit and will oversee the “Hello Kitty” project.

Hello Kitty was created by Yuko Shimizu and is currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi.

The white Japanese bobtail cat was first introduced in Japan in 1975, and brought to the US in 1976.