With buzz for the franchise’s first live action adventure Pokemon: Detective Pikachu building ahead of the film’s May release, rumour from We Got This Covered claims that Legendary Pictures is already working on developing two additional movies in the Pokemon universe.
According to the site, Legendary is in the early stages of development on a film based upon the 1996 Gameboy titles Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue, which introduced the Pokemon franchise to the world. The report claims that the film will revolve around the young Pokemon trainer Red and his battles across the various Pokemon gyms in the Kanto region.
Additionally, the site is reporting that work is also underway on a Detective Pikachu spinoff centred upon the character of Mewtwo, who they claim is the secret villain of the upcoming movie. Mewtwo was of course the main villain in Pokemon: The First Movie, which is receiving a CGI remake later this year under the title Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution.
SEE ALSO: Watch the trailer for Detective Pikachu here
Now, we should stress that these are unconfirmed rumours at present, although one would have to assume that Legendary does have a number of projects on the drawing board as it looks to capitalise on the enormous potential of the Pokemon license.
“The story begins when ace private eye Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.”
The first-ever live-action Pokémon movie, “POKÉMON Detective Pikachu” stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular character in the first-ever live-action movie based on the iconic face of the global Pokémon brand—one of the world’s most popular, multi-generation entertainment properties and most successful media franchises of all time. “POKÉMON Detective Pikachu” also stars Justice Smith (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) as Tim; Kathryn Newton (“Lady Bird,” TV’s “Big Little Lies”) as Lucy, a junior reporter following her first big story; and Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe (“Godzilla,” “The Last Samurai”) as Lt. Yoshida.
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu sees Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2) starring in the title role alongside Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies), Suki Waterhouse (The Bad Batch), Ken Watanabe (Godzilla), Bill Nighy (The Limehouse Golem), Rita Ora (Fifty Shades Freed) and Chris Geere (Modern Family). It is set for release on May 10th 2019.