Posted in: Movies, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros, WB Animation | Tagged: hello kitty

Hello Kitty Movie Officially Taps Moana 2 & Ultraman: Rising Directors

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have officially brought on David Derrick Jr. (Moana 2) and John Aoshima (Ultraman: Rising) to direct the Hello Kitty film.

Published Wed, 20 May 2026 15:17:10 -0500

by Kaitlyn Booth

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Article Summary

Hello Kitty has officially tapped Moana 2 director David Derrick Jr. and Ultraman: Rising co-director John Aoshima.
The Hello Kitty movie is still set for July 21, 2028, as Warner Bros. and New Line keep the long-gestating film moving.
Hello Kitty’s current script is by Jeff Chan, with earlier drafts from Dana Fox, Katie Dippold, Lindsey Beer, and more.
First announced in 2015, the Hello Kitty movie has changed creative teams before, making this latest update a key step.

The Hello Kitty movie has once again signed on new directors, who have been in varying levels of development for well over a decade. The last time we heard about this film was at the end of 2025, when Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema officially confirmed a July 21, 2028, release date. Earlier this week, they officially confirmed the directors for the new projects. According to a press release from the studio, David Derrick Jr. and John Aoshima have officially been signed on as directors for the film.

: L-R: David Derrick Jr. attends the UK Premiere of Walt Disney Animation Studios' 'Moana 2' at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 24, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by StillMoving.Net for The Walt Disney Company Limited) | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 01: John Aoshima attends a special screening of Ultraman: Rising at Netflix Tudum Theater on June 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Netflix) 2024 Getty Images

: Pictured from left to right: Bill Damaschke, President & Chief Creative Officer, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Jill Koch – Senior Vice President, Brand, Sanrio Inc., Richard Brener, President & Chief Content Officer, New Line Cinema, Craig Takiguchi – Chief Executive Officer, Sanrio Inc., Hello Kitty, Beau Flynn, Producer, Ramsey Naito, Producer, Tadashi Kubota – Chief Strategy Officer, Sanrio Inc., Takaaki Nakazawa – Executive Officer, Sanrio Co., Ltd. Image provided courtesy of Warner Bros.

Hello Kitty Is Slowly Making Her Way To The Big Screen

Derrick was one of the directors on Moana 2, which was a massive commercial success for Disney with a box office of over a billion worldwide. He also worked on other beloved animated films like How to Train Your Dragon and Megamind. Aoshima was a co-director on the fantastically underrated Ultraman: Rising on Netflix and was also involved with shows like Ducktales, American Dad, and Gravity Falls. Sources say both directors have entered into overall deals with Warner Bros. Animation.

The Hello Kitty movie has been in development for a while, so the script credits are quite extensive. The credits are not final, and could change now that new directors have come on board, but "the current script is being penned by Jeff Chan with previous drafts by Dana Fox, Katie Dippold, Adam Sztykiel, Jenny Jaffe, Lindsey Beer and Tamara Becher-Wilkinson (from a treatment by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon)."

A Hello Kitty movie was first announced in 2015 and given a 2019 release date. However, there was no movement on the project, and it was re-announced in 2019. The next movement on the project was in 2021, when it was confirmed that Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda were set to direct from a script by Lindsey Beer. Once again, however, the project went dark following that announcement as well. At the end of 2025, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema made another formal announcement, one that didn't mention Coyle or Matsuda, and the 2028 release was officially set. Considering this is the second time we've seen directors attached to this project, and animation is a labor of love that takes years to complete, we should probably set this one on the "wait and see" shelf for the time being.

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