Story Times: Spotlight
Detective Pikachu coming to big screen!
Good news for Pokemon fans as Rob Letterman, a director of Dreamworks Animation’s Monsters Vs. Aliens and Shark Tale, is set to helm Detective Pikachu, the first-ever live-action Pokémon film.
The film is being made by Legendary Entertainment, owned by Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group. Though the initial craze of Pokémon Go, the location-based augmented reality gaming app, has died down, it has brought enormous attention to the Japanese franchise.
Detective Pikachu was introduced in the adventure game, Great Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Duo, released earlier this year in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS. In it a boy named Tim Goodman and Detective Pikachu solve various Pokémon mysteries while also trying to find Tim’s missing father.
Universal Pictures will distribute the film outside of Japan, and Toho will release the film in that country. There is no word yet on a release date.