Live-action Pokemon film is announced as Detective Pikachu

Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to a new live-action Pokemon film and it’s been announced that they will begin production on a Detective Pikachu movie next year.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary will produce the film with Universal Pictures distributing the movie internationally. Sources say that Netflix was also interested but lost out to the other studios.

We found out in April that “a top-secret auction” for the film rights was underway with Legendary, Warner Bros. and Sony all interested. But Legendary have won the race with Chronicle writer Max Landis expected to pen the screenplay.

With the success of Niantic’s Pokemon Go, it’s no surprise to see Pokemon make its way onto the big screen.

Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Team came out in Japan on Nintendo 3DS earlier this year and the film may very well be set around the game, although plot and character details are yet to be revealed.