The Goosebumps director will helm the first live-action Pokemon film for Legendary Pictures.
The rumored Pokémon live-action picture, Detective Pikachu, is finally moving forward, and it has found its director in Rob Letterman.
The man who was most recently tasked with bringing the beloved children’s book series Goosebumps to the screen (and who did an admirable job at that), Letterman seems like a logical choice to helm Legendary’s attempt at bringing the worldwide children’s entertainment powerhouse into the world of live-action cinema.
Legendary snapped up the rights to a Pokémon film series this July after the augmented reality app Pokémon Go reignited Pokemania, combining fun new mobile technology with ‘90s nostalgia. Though interest in the game has cooled, Pokémon Go part-owner Nintendo saw a 25 percent increase in their stock, proving that the property is highly profitable. Though that shouldn’t come as a surprise; after being introduced in Japan in 1996, Pokémon has sold 279 million video games worldwide, shipped 21.5 billion cards to 74 countries, and has spawned 19-season spanning animated series that also led to multiple animated films. A live-action film series was only a matter of time.
Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls) wrote the script for Detective Pikachu. Famous Japanese studio Toho will distribute the film in Japan with Universal Pictures handling elsewhere.