Pokémon has endured for over two decades as one of the most popular and prominent brands on the planet, and it felt a little unusual that Hollywood took so long to capitalize on the undoubted big screen potential of the little critters. Unbelievably, there had been 21 animated movies before the first live-action adaptation arrived, but Detective Pikachu instantly saw Warner Bros. with dollar signs in their eyes.
Not only did it end up as the second highest-grossing video game movie ever made after earning $433 million at the box office, but it also became the first to ever score a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and remains the best-reviewed entry the genre has ever seen with a solid score of 68%. A sequel was swiftly announced, and we’re now hearing that the studio are keen to monetize the brand even further.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us a Justice League Dark show was in the works for HBO Max before it was confirmed – Warner Bros. are now actively looking to develop a Detective Pikachu spinoff series for the aforementioned streaming site as they continue to rely on recognizable properties to market their platform to the masses.
We’ve heard that they want Ryan Reynolds to reprise his voice role as the title character, but the actor’s packed schedule means that it might not happen, so a soundalike is also being considered for what would be the first live-action show in the franchise’s history. Not much else is known about the project just yet, but it’d be a mystery-based Pokémon procedural that follows Detective Pikachu solving cases on an episodic basis, which certainly sounds like an easy sell to subscribers. Not to mention it could be a unique spin on a standard TV formula as well if handled right.
