When it was revealed that live-action Pokemon movies are actually in the works, it's fair to say that none of us expected that the first would be Detective Pikachu. The movie has a writing team in the form of Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch and Captain Marvel screenwriter Nicole Perlman, while Rob Letterman (Goosebumps) will direct. What this movie doesn't have as of right now is a cast.
Regardless, a new production listing has revealed that the plan is for Detective Pikachu to start shooting next January. That's not long from now so we'll likely see it start coming together shortly.
Detective Pikachu is based on a Nintendo 3DS game featuring a version of Pikachu who is a hard-boiled detective as opposed to the loveable version who accompanies Ash Ketchum on his travels. Whether or not it will introduce us to other Pokemon and set up a shared world of sorts remains to be seen but it definitely feels like a movie which has at least some franchise potential if handled well.
Time will tell on that front but let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.