You might assume that after 19 animated Pokémon movies featuring Ash and his ever present Pikachu and friends, that when a live action movie was finally announced, he'd be one of, if not the, main character. However the first live-action Pokémon film has finally been announced and will go into production next year, without anyone playing the regular Poké-tagonist.
That's because this film won't be about catching Pokémon, beating the Elite Four or becoming the best, like no one ever was. No, the first ever live-action Pokémon movie is going to be based around the recently released, Japanese only title, Detective Pikachu.
Detective Pikachu is a slightly more adult take on the Pokémon universe, but it still features a Pikachu in a deer stalker. Together he and your protagonist, take on mysteries and solve them, including robberies and even murders - surprising, considering death is so rarely mentioned in Pokémon.
And yet that's exactly what the world's first taste of human-driven Pokémon movies will be like. Set to go into production next year, with an expected release date of sometime in 2018, Detective Pikachu will see an international release too. The movie will be handled by Legendary Pictures during production, the same company that put together Batman Begins and Jurassic World, while Universal will take over for distribution in western markets.
What do you think of this being the first live-action Pokémon movie? Would you have rather seen something more traditional?
