Last week, we reported that Legendary are so certain that Detective Pikachu will be a hit that they’re already developing two spinoffs to the film. But it doesn’t stop there, as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed via their Heat Vision newsletter that the studio’s working on a direct follow-up to DP as well, claiming that they’re “bullish on what it’s got and isn’t waiting for the box office receipts to roll in.”
As mentioned above, our sources have told us that there are two spinoffs currently in development. One of them’s a film involving powerful and villainous psychic Pokemon Mewtwo and the other’s an adaptation of the GameBoy games that launched the franchise back in 1997: Pokemon Red and Blue. We’ve also heard that Legendary are interested in bringing Ash Ketchum into live-action, and he seems like he’d be a great hero for that Red and Blue movie.
It’s still a bit unclear, but it seems this most recently announced project is something else entirely, acting as a direct sequel to Detective Pikachu rather than a spinoff. Plot details remain unknown, of course, but it seems that Ryan Reynolds plus Pikachu (plus a super cute hat) equals box office success, so the studio would be fools if they didn’t lock him in for a repeat appearance. As such, you can fully expect him to return for more.
Detective Pikachu hits cinemas on May 10th and after some initial misgivings, people seem to have responded well to the trailers we’ve seen so far. If all the positive buzz we’ve been hearing lately is on the mark, then we could finally have the first genuinely great video game movie. And if not, well, then expect Legendary to start changing their plans pretty quickly. Either way, we’ll find out soon enough what’ll become of the franchise on the big screen.