Legendary Entertainment announced that it has chosen Rob Letterman, the American director who is best known for directing animation and live-action films, to direct the "Pokemon" spin-off film, "Detective Pikachu." Letterman also directed the live-action film "Goosebumps" in 2015 and an animated film "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 2009.
According to Hardcore Gamer, placing Pikachu in the role of a crime-solving detective would be different for a video game and too odd to use it as a film's basis but Letterman is experienced with both animated and live-action films, which is Legendary Entertainment's safe choice. "Pokemon" related entertainment has always been a success and this must be a great decision for the media company to have Letterman helm "Detective Pikachu."
Legendary Entertainment and the Pokemon Company's "Detective Pikachu" is written by Alex Hirsch who wrote "Gravity Falls" and Nicole Perlman who wrote "Guardians of the Galaxy." Initially, directors Dean Israelite, Tim Miller and Robert Rodriguez were the potential people to direct the film until the media company announced on Nov. 30 that Letterman is the guy.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the distribution of the film outside Japan will be handled by Universal Pictures and the Pokemon Company's long time film collaborator, Toho will handle the distribution in Japan. "Detective Pikachu" was confirmed by Legendary Entertainment two weeks after the release of "Pokemon Go" that it has acquired the rights to create a live-action film. It is the first film in the "Pokemon" franchise to be a live-action movie and the film is due to begin its production in 2017.
"Detective Pikachu" will be based in the video game that was released in February 2016 in Japan, which features a wise-crack talking Pikachu. He is with his human partner Tim Goodman who is looking for his missing father with their goal to eradicate all crimes in Rhyme City.
