There are very, very few video games that have ever embedded themselves so deeply into pop culture that even people who have never played a game in their life would recognize them. Pokémon is one of those rare beasts. Its popularity has spread far and wide over the last decade, evolving from games to TV shows to movies to toys and pretty much everything in between. Right now it's basically impossible to walk around a city and not be within arm's length of someone playing PokémonGo. It is a legit phenomenon that's endured for years and years and years regardless of its form.
That's why it's a little surprising Hollywood hasn't made a blockbuster movie out of Pokémonyet. Sure, there have been more than a few animated movies over the years, and the first was wildly successful, but most of them have all gone straight to DVD. That's about to change, though. PokémonGo's massive and surprisingly sudden success has once again proven how incredibly viable the property is, causing Legendary Pictures to aggressively pursue live-action rights it had already been chasing since before the game's release. Now,according to THR, they've finally closed the deal.
That's not the only news, though. THR reports that the first movie in the franchise will actually be based on Detective Pikachu, which may surprise some fans. For those unfamiliar,Detective Pikachu is fairly different from most Pokémon games/shows in that it's less about friends on an adventure capturing and training creatures and more about a boy who teams up with a rare, talking Pikachu to solve Pokémon mysteries. That's bummer news for anyone who has long been dreaming of a live-action Pokémon about Ash Ketchum trying to be the very best, like no one ever was.
An Ash-centric movie may still happen some day, but they're starting with Detective Pikachu. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. It could basically be this generation's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? That doesn't sound too shabby to us. Now we just need to know who is going to direct this thing. If only Legendary Pictures had a director they've worked with who happened to be a huge gamer and pre-existing Pokémon fan. Oh, wait, they do. Here'sKong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts:
Make it happen, Legendary. Jordan Vogt-Roberts was born to make this movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment