You may recall that last month, Legendary Pictures acquired the rights to make a live-action Pokémon film based on the recent Detective Pikachu game for the 3DS. This month, they may have found their writers for the project--Alex Hirsch (creator of Disney series Gravity Falls) and Nicole Perlman (co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Captain Marvel film) are in talks to pen the Detective Pikachu movie. source
Oh sweet mercy. That can't be real can it? Some kind of April Fools joke that never got out till now? I mean come on, there's some kind of law out there that probably says "Thou shalt not make live-action Pokemon movies, tv shows, or games". I just can't imagine something that's been animated to be made live action, with a talking pikachu, as a detective. And my personal view on it is even worse, considering I can't stand the thought of Gravity Falls. And with someone who was also partly responsible for Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, seems like it'd include a lot more action than what the game is about. But, I'm having a meltdown too quickly, and I will try my hardest to keep calm about this. Until we see the trailer that is, then all bets are off.
In older news, Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, The Proposal) has been cast in the title role of Detective Pikachu, with Justice Smith (The Get Down, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Kathryn Newton (Supernatural, Lady Bird) have been cast as the male (possibly/probably Tim Goodman) and female leads. In newer...news, Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Inception) has been cast as Detective Yoshida, a role created for the movie. The film, which sees Tim Goodman Smith's character team up with Detective Pikachu when his father is kidnapped, will release in theaters on May 10, 2019. source
Some photos of the set, including our first look of how the Pokemon would look like (see the image of the billboard): Not sure how I feel about the look of the Pokemon (or even about this entire movie in general...)
Their specific roles have not yet been announced, but Bill Nighy (Love, Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean) and Chris Geere (Waterloo Road; You're the Worst) have joined the movie's cast! source
The latest addition to the cast is Suki Waterhouse (Assassination Nation, The Divergent Series: Insurgent). As with most of the rest of the cast, her role is being kept under wraps. source
I'm still trying to process the fact that this movie even exists, and trying to get over the fact that the Pokemon in the movie look completely different than how I've been used to them in the games and the anime. The trailer did make me chuckle a few times, I admit, and I like the many easter eggs that were included (I'd imagine the movie will be chock full of them). All I can I hope is that the movie ends up being good (I'll be pleasantly surprised if that happens).
I'm a bit terrified of the movie from the trailer, but also curious, mainly because it's Ryan Reynolds voicing in it, so we all know some of the jokes are going to be aimed more toward older people. On the other hand, people should really stop trying to make anime a live-action thing. It just doesn't translate well. All those pokemon are pretty terrifying.
While it is weird to see Pokemon in a realistic style, I kinda like it. I really like Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and some of the starter Pokemon (I like that Pikachu and Jigglypuff look furry and soft), but Mr. Mime, Charizard, and even Psyduck look a little too much like nightmare fuel. I can't wait to see it though I have never played the game.
I'm officially expecting a thunderbolt in a crunch moment just by a million cups of coffee being drunk.