Legendary Entertainment has acquired the rights to do a live action Pokemon film. The film will be centered on the Detective Pikachu character, which was introduced in the Nintendo 3DS title “Meitentei Pikachu” earlier this year in February, rather then follow the cannon of the animated series. TOHO will distribute the film in Japan while Universal Studios handles distribution outside of Japan. It was reported by Deadline that Legendary Entertainment is “moving towards a deal” to acquire the rights. Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment and Sony entered an auction for the rights back in April according to Hollywood Insider. Warner Bros. has already released several animated Pokemon films beginning with “Pokemon The Movie” in 1999 followed by “Pokemon 2000” and “Pokemon 3- The Movie”, all of which had theatrical releases. Legendary Entertainment will begin production of the live action Pokemon film in 2017.
