The comedic action star will take on the role of the popular Pokemon turned detective in the live-action and CGI hybrid film.
THR is reporting that the leading voice role will go to Ryan Reynolds, who in recent years is likely to be best recognized from his incredible portrayal as the “merc with a mouth” in FOX’s Deadpool series of films, but that in no way summarizes the long list of films Reynolds has done. Well, that list has grown even longer delving into the Pokemon franchise. Yes, the actor who portrays the most foul-mouthed and crazed comic hero of all time is also voicing a Pikachu. Who would have guessed?
Not much is known about the rest of the cast except for a small handful of the leads including Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies).
It also sounds as though there will be more than just voicework coming from Reynolds, with sources suggesting there will also be motion capture work of some kind.
The plot, which is rather vague at this time, sees Justice Smith’s character’s father being kidnapped thus resulting in the partnership between Smith and this detective Pikachu. Newton will be portraying a journalist who accompanies the two as they try to solve the crime/case.
Universal Pictures is distributing the film outside of Japan while Toho handles everything within. The film has an undetermined released date.
The film will be loosely based off of the 2016 hit Japanese video game The Great Detective Pikachu.
