Ryan Reynolds will play another popular cartoon character
Ryan Reynolds could well end up with a second major filmfranchise adapted from popular graphic characters.
The “Deadpool” star has signed on to top line the live-action “Detective Pikachu” and will begin shooting next month, The Hollywood Reporter first reported.
The Legendary film, based on the video gamesprung multimedia juggernaut, already has director Rob Letterman (“Goosebumps”) and actors Justice Smith (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) and Kathryn Newton (“Lady Bird”) already in place, with Alex Hirsch (“Gravity Falls”) and Nicole Perlman (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) handling the script.
Reynolds will play the title gumshoe who helps a boy find his father within this world of mighty Pokemon beasts. The film has a build-in global fan appeal, with Pokemon games having sold in the hundreds of millions and an animated series spanning two decades.
The move marks Reynolds’ continued faith in projects based on bright visual characters. He began the decade with the infamous “Green Lantern” and the animated “The Croods,” right after 2009’s misguided “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”
Now he’s got a “Deadpool” sequel due out next June, an “X-Force” film announced and even “The Croods 2” slated for 2020.
The casting rings as positive news except among those fans who had campaigned for Danny DeVito to land the role — even though he had little interest and even less knowledge of Pokemon.
The Pokemon franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter, has sold 300 million video games worldwide. The game has spawned an animated series spanning 20 seasons.
According to CNET, this will not be the first time Pikachu has spoken. Lastmonth, in a scene in “Pokemon theMovie: I Choose You,” Pikachu lay next to its trainer, Ash Ketchum, opened its mouth and out came the words: “I always want to be with you.”
Reynolds also recently tweeted about a possible Disney-20th Century Foxmerger: “Time to uncork that explosive sexual tension between Deadpool and Mickey Mouse.”