Legendary Pictures has landed a pretty legendary star for its upcoming live-action Pokémon movie ‘Detective Pikachu’: Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds will play the most famous Pokémon, who will be rendered via motion capture, with the actor providing his voice. In the film, it appears that Pikachu will be able to speak but that only the character Tim Goodman, portrayed by Justice Smith, will be able to understand him.
Legendary was known to be seeking a big name for the role of Pikachu, with Reynolds winning out over the likes of Hugh Jackman, Dwayne Johnson, and Mark Wahlberg. In addition to Smith, who may be best known for the Netflix series ‘The Get Down’ and will appear in the upcoming ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, the cast also includes ‘Supernatural’/’Wayward Sisters’ star Kathryn Newton, who can be seen in the new season of HBO’s star-studded ‘Big Little Lies’ and in two of the biggest awards season hopefuls in theaters now, ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’.
As for Reynolds himself, he has experienced a career revival in recent years, obviously thanks to the left-field R-rated superhero hit ‘Deadpool’. He just wrapped the untitled sequel, which introduces Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino. He has also recently been seen in sci fi thriller ‘Life’ and sleeper hit ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’. As far as voice acting, Reynolds is due to reprise the role of Guy in ‘The Croods 2’ and frequently lends his voice to ‘The Family Guy’.
Rob Letterman (‘Goosebumps’) will direct ‘Detective Pikachu’, based on a script by Alex Hirsch and Nicole Perlman. Filming is due to begin in mid-January in London. The film will be distributed by Toho in Japan and Universal everywhere else. The release date has not yet been announced.
The plot centers on the kidnapping of Tim Goodman’s father, which Pikachu will help him solve. Newton’s character, Lucy, is a reporter who helps with the investigation.
What do you think of potty-mouth Deadpool voicing Pikachu? Are you excited that ‘Pokémon’ is finally getting the live-action feature treatment?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
