World famous Japanese brand Hello Kitty is going to be hitting the big screen soon.

Japanese-owned company Sanrio announced its plans to fund and produce a feature length film based on Hello Kitty with a tentative 2019 release date, Deadline reported. The company said it will facilitate the production through its recently formed U.S. subsidiary. The Hello Kitty film adaptation is said to have an expected budget of $160 million to $240 million, including prints and advertising.

Sanrio calls Hello Kitty a "Japanese character and lifestyle business," signaling its plans to broaden the utility of the global brand, starting with the $200 million "Hello Kitty" movie.

Introduced in Japan in 1975, Hello Kitty, which was  created by Yuko Shimizu, was originally described as "the white kitten with no name." The brand spread globally in 1976. In a report that took the world by storm, L.A. Times noted that while an American anthropologist was visiting the Japanese American National Museum to research about Hello Kitty, a museum officer corrected her by saying that Hello Kitty is actually not a cat but a "British cartoon character."

According to SlashFilm.com, Hello Kitty is already 40 years old. The $7 billion global sensation brand, according to the site, counts millions of kids and adults as fans, especially from its country of origin, Japan. Hello Kitty has reportedly achieved this level of success without spending any money on advertising.

Hello Kitty is kept company by many other brands under the Sanrio franchise, including My Melody and Little Twin Stars. These brands are also being considered for future film development.

As to what Hello Kitty will be doing in the movie is anybody's guess, said James White of Empire.

"The brand has been popular for many years, and it doesn't usually take this long for a big feature film step to be taken. Also, if you couldn't already tell from the description above, the character is pretty much a blank slate that lends itself to a feature length story because you can literally have her go on any kind of adventure and find a way to have her personality work with it," independent entertainment website Cinema Blend opined about the movie.