Almost three months before it arrives in cinemas, a sequel to Detective Pikachu has gotten the go-ahead. Legendary Pictures – the studio behind the film – must be feeling very good about it after the initial trailer caused a stir on social media, as they have hired 22 Jump Street writer Oren Uziel to write the script for the sequel.
The first film is set to star Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the most famous Pokémon, as he assists a man he meets named Tim in helping track down his ace detective missing father. Goosebumps director Rob Letterman is directing from a script penned by Nicole Perlman (Guardians Of The Galaxy). The film will be a blend of CGI and live-action.
It’s no surprise that a Pokémon-related film is already getting some buzz and having a sequel greenlit, but it is perhaps surprising that it’s this film, which months ago felt a bit like a strange fever dream one executive had, and not a real movie. Expect this to be the start of a Pokémon cinematic universe of sorts.
Uziel has turned out to be a bit of a dab hand at writing scripts for rebooted IP of the past, as he’s also recently worked on Sony’s Men In Black International and Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog adaptation. He also wrote the screenplay which eventually turned into The Cloverfield Paradox.
We’ll wait and see if Detective Pikachu is actually good, but maybe that doesn’t even matter anymore. Netflix have proven that big films such as Bright and Bird Box – both poorly received from a critical standpoint – can still be massive hits and spawn sequels, and Venom did the exact same thing last October, reeling in almost $900 million worldwide.
Legendary might be banking on something similar, hoping Pikachu and his fellow Pokémon can be enough of a nostalgic dopamine rush to power through any poor reviews.
#Peace.Love.DetectivePikachu
