Summary
The recent Pokémon leak revealed lots of clues about upcoming games in the franchise, but it also hinted at the future of theDetective Pikachumovies. The live-actionDetective Pikachufilm was considered a success, but a sequel never eventuated.
Detective Pikachuwas released in 2019 byShark Taledirector Rob Letterman. Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine) starred in the film as the voice of Pikachu, withDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievescast member Justice Smith in the role of his human companion, Tim Goodman. The film takes place in the fictional Ryme City, where humans and Pokèmon co-exist peacefully. The plot of the movie saw Tim and Detective Pikachu team up to investigate the death of Tim’s father, Harry, a Ryme City police officer.Detective Pikachudidn’t receive the most positive reviews, but it did earn $450 million at the box office and held the record for the highest-grossing video game movie for a time until it was dethroned by 2023’sSuper Mario Bros. Movie.
Pokémon Leak May Have Revealed Detective Pikachu 2’s Title
Earlier in October,Pokémon game developer Game Freak confirmed a hackhad resulted in large amounts of its confidential data leaking. While most of the leak contained information about upcoming games, it also seemingly revealed the title of a newDetective Pikachumovie. As pointed out byComicBook.com, the movie will allegedly be titledThe Great Detective Pikachuand is said to have been in development since 2021. The project had seemingly attached Jordan Vogt-Roberts, director ofKong: Skull IslandandYou’re the Worst. Plot details for the film were also allegedly included in the hack, but it’s unclear if this iteration of the film is still in development or if it was re-worked at some point over the past four years.Vogt-Roberts has since been attached to direct theMetal Gear SolidandGundamadaptations, meaning his slate might already be too full to also cram inDetective Pikachu 2.
The last official update theDetective Pikachusequel received was in 2023, when Deadline reported that Portlandia co-creator Jonathan Krisel was in negotiations to direct the next Pokémon film, with Chris Galletta writing the script. Therefore, it does appear like the latest Pokémon leak may have been referring to an older version of theDetective Pikachusequel. Furthermore,star Justice Smith told Screen Rantthat he had “not heard of any movement” on anotherDetective Pikachumovie, indicating things may have stalled in development once more. This wouldn’t be surprising given the impact of the Writer’s Guild strike in Hollywood last year, which held up many projects in the development pipeline.
It would be surprising if anotherDetective Pikachumovie doesn’t end up moving forward. The first movie was popular with fans and performed well at the box office. The Pokémon franchise has also been consistently popular and the mostrecentDetective Pikachugame (Detective Pikachu Returns)was a bestseller in Japan. This suggests there is an appetite for more from the Detective Pikachu world and, if anything, theDetective Pikachu 2reference in the Pokemon leak at least indicates there has been movement on the sequel in the past few years. It may just need the right creative pieces to fall into place before it can move forward.
Detective Pikachu
Oddly enough and yet so fitting, Ryan Reynolds is the voice of Pikachu here in 2019’s Detective Pikachu, with Justice Smith as Tim Goodman. Set in a world where humans and Pokémon coexist, the film follows the pair as they team up to solve the mysterious disappearance of Tim’s father, unraveling a captivating blend of mystery, humor, and heartfelt moments. Available here in Blu-ray, you’re able to also grab the4K UHD + version.
