Legendary’s Detective Pikachu has now found its title character, with Ryan Reynolds on aboard to play the yellow creature. In October it had been reported that the studio was looking for a big action star to voice the character, with the studio having Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at the top of the list. Other candidates were Hugh Jackman, Mark Wahlberg and Ryan Reynolds. The report offers some of the first story details also.
The new story details suggest that the movie will follow the same story as the video game that had been launched last year. The story centers on the character who is played by Justice Smith, whose father is kidnapped. He then teams up with Detective Pikachu to find his father, with the female lead played by Kathryn Newton, a sassy journalist who helps them along the way. The character is yet to be cast.
The video game that this movie is based on follows a young boy, Tim Goodman, who encounters Pikachu, and can understand what he is saying. The boy learns that Pikachu is a great detective and leads to the two of them teaming up and solving crimes around the city. The video game, which had been released in Japan in February 2016, did not feature a kidnapping or a journalist but it seems like this Pokemon live-action movie is sticking close to the core story.
The report indicates that there will be a motion-capture element to Detective Pikachu which means that Ryan Reynolds will be wearing a motion capture suit on set. It is not known if there will be any other character elements in the movie, but it seems likely, considering the game features Pikachu and Tim Goodman solving cases. While the narrative thrust of the case will change in the movie, as they try to find the young boy’s father, it is possible that they may meet many Pokemon characters along the way.
Director Rob Letterman will helm Detective Pikachu, working from a script by Nicole Perlman and Alex Hirsch. While the production will start in January, Legendary has not set a release date, with Universal Pictures distributing globally through the studio’s deal with Legendary, except for Japan, where Toho will handle the distribution. Ryan Reynolds followed up last year’s global blockbuster Dead
Ryan Reynolds will be seen reprising his role as the Merc With the Mouth in Deadpool 2 which will hit theaters on June 1, 2018.
