Movie studios Legendary Entertainment have won the rights to making a Pokémon movie. They are working with The Pokémon Company to bring the first live-action Pokémon film. While unsurprisingly it will feature Pikachu, the mascot of the franchise, they’re having a detective Pikachu headline this movie.

There exists a Great Detective Pikachu game in Japan for the 3DS. The first of a multi-part game has been released, with more to come. There’s been no word about the game coming outside of Japan as of yet. However, given this film announcement, it seems likely that the game will take advantage of the extra marketing and appear on Western shores down the track.

Legendary Entertainment have been in the business since 2005. Movies attributed to them in some way include various films directed by Christopher Nolan (namely the Batman trilogy, Inception and Interstellar), 300, and The Hangover series. Universal Pictures will handle distribution of the live-action film outside Japan, something done with Legendary’s other films. Meanwhile, The Pokémon Company’s long time movie collaborator, Toho, will handle distribution of the film franchise in Japan.

Production is to start in 2017.

Thanks to CyborgHD for the tip.
Cover image from ‘Great Detective Pikachu’ game.