By Can you believe it’s been 20 years since Pokemon first told us we gotta catch ’em all? I wouldn’t necessarily call the franchise untouchable, but it quickly became one of Nintendo’s most profitable and successful tentpoles alongside Zelda and Mario Bros. And with the ridiculously large success of Pokemon Go‘s US launch earlier this month, it seems like everybody has Pokemon on their minds.
As we mentioned back in April, a bidding war for a Pokemon adaptation was in full effect, with Legendary Pictures seen as the frontrunner. Now, the bidding war has officially ended as the production studio behind Inception, Pacific Rim, Jurassic World, Warcraft, and many, many more, has officially reached a deal with The Pokemon Company, the holding company that owns the rights to the Pokemon franchise. Production is scheduled to begin next year with Universal distributing the film to all regions outside of Japan.
The live-action film is rumored to center around Detective Pikachu, a particular Pikachu that can speak and is very intelligent. The character was the star of his own Pokemon spin-off game, Great Detective Pikachu, which launched in Japan earlier this year. There are no confirmed details beyond this, but rumors are swirling that Max Landis (Chronicle) might be involved.
Now if only Detective Pikachu can solve the mystery of Pokemon Go‘s terrible servers…
[via Deadline, lulz via Sean H.]