From Legendary Entertainment, The Pokémon Company and director Rob Letterman (Goosebumps) comes Detective Pikachu (adapted from the Nintendo 3DS game Great Detective Pikachu). Starring Ryan Reynolds, Kathryn Newton and Justice Smith, the live-action film does not have a theatrical release date at this time.
Detective Pikachu is a peculiar sort from the Pikachu set, a self-styled investigator who is good at finding things. Justice Smith’s character’s father is kidnapped, forcing the teen to team up with Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) in order to find him.
Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds will play Pikachu in the upcoming Detective Pikachu movie.
Let that sink in for a minute… Yes — Reynolds will be playing the world’s most famous Pokemon using motion capture in a live-action film based on a Nintendo 3DS videogame. For the uninitiated, this already sounds very strange, but when you consider that Pokemon creatures are only able to say their name when speaking, it’s even more bizarre… Will Reynolds one-up Vin Diesel’s Groot by only uttering ONE WORD for an entire film? How many times can you hear Deadpool say “Pika…… CHU!” in a two hour movie before wanting to murder yourself? We won’t know that answer for some time… I’m not familiar with the game though — so maybe Pikachu is able to speak in that one since he’s DETECTIVE PIKACHU! HE HAS A HAT! HE’S DIFFERENT!
THR dropped the news that Reynolds is going to play Pikachu and as bizarre as the announcement was, the talent and casting is really on-point for a hot property like Pokemon. Justice Smith will be in the upcoming Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom flick and director Rob Letterman did Goosebumps which was way better than it had any right to be. So maybe Legendary Entertainment is onto something huge here… Or they just cast one of the world’s best actors as a a Japanese pocket monster that only says one word.
*2nd Photo Credit – Rallp Andres