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Monsters vs. Aliens' Rob Letterman Directs Live-Action Pokémon Film
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Entertainment news source Deadline reported on Wednesday that Rob Letterman (Shark Tale, Monsters vs. Aliens, Goosebumps) is directing Legendary Entertainment's planned live-action Pokémon film. The report refers to the film's title as "Detective Pikachu," confirming previous reports that the film will feature the Detective Pikachu character, which debuted in the Meitantei Pikachu Nintendo 3DS game this past February.
The report also confirms that screenwriters Alex Hirsch and Nicole Perlman have signed on to pen the film's script. Alex Hirsch created Disney's recently concluded Gravity Falls animated series, and has worked as a storyboard artist on the Cartoon Network series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Nicole Perlman co-wrote the script for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and is co-writing the script of the Captain Marvel film as well as co-developing the proposed third Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey, Jr.
The film will start production in 2017. TOHO will distribute the film in Japan, while Universal Pictures will distribute the film outside of Japan.
Legendary Entertainment acquired the live-action film rights for the Pokémon franchise in July. The Hollywood Reporter reported in April that Legendary Entertainment, Warner Bros., and Sony were engaged in an auction for the rights. Warner already released several of the animated Pokémon films, starting with Pokémon: The First Movie in North American theaters in 1999. Warner then released Pokémon 2000 - The Movie and 2001's Pokémon 3 - The Movie.
Source: Deadline (Mike Fleming Jr.)
