‘Detective Pikachu’ Gets Summer 2019 Release Date

Universal Pictures has pegged a May 10, 2019 release date for Legendary Entertainment’s Detective Pikachu, based on the popular Pokémon. The first live-action film based on the franchise is starring Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies). Rob Letterman is directing. The film will bow on Mother’s Day and a week after an untitled Avengers’ movie from Disney.

Universal Pictures is handling all distribution outside of Japan wher Toho will distribute in Japan. Toho did the same for Legendary on reboot of Godzilla.

The Pokémon game and brand is one of those rare marketing phenomenons. It has sold 300M video games worldwide and 23.6 billion TCG cards are in 74 countries. It also launched an animated series spanning 20 seasons.

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