Warner Bros. and Legendary's
Detective Pikachu will be hitting theaters on the 10th of May, becoming the very first live-action
Pokémon movie.
The Rob Letterman directed film is boasting the talents of Ryan Reynolds as Detective Pikachu, but some new information reveals that the studio had also considered Danny DeVito for the role; something that fans have been wanting since the
Detective Pikachu video game was localized outside of Japan.
According to Warner Bros. Producer Cale Boyter and VFX Producer Greg Baxter — during an interview with Game Informer — the studio did consider DeVito for the role and they even did a test to see if DeVito's voice worked for the Detective Pikachu character.
"
We definitely thought about it and how it might inform the spirit of it. Danny is incredible by the way. I am a huge fan of Danny DeVito," revealed Boyter.
Baxter mentions that he doesn't know why DeVito wasn't cast in the role, but he does remember the experience being a funny one. "
It was really very funny, so I couldn’t speak to all the reasons why it wasn’t Danny DeVito cast. I love Danny and some point maybe after the movie comes about, we can share those early tests. It’s absolutely hilarious."
The
Detective Pikachu video game did ended up having a Pikachu that sounds a little bit more like DeVito than he does Ryan Reynolds, so it would've definitely been interesting to see what DeVito as Pikachu would've been. Hopefully the studio does end up releasing those early tests they did with DeVito as Pikachu, although it's best not to hold your breath.
The first-ever live-action Pokémon movie, “POKÉMON Detective Pikachu” stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular character in the first-ever live-action movie based on the iconic face of the global Pokémon brand—one of the world’s most popular, multi-generation entertainment properties and most successful media franchises of all time.
Detective Pikachu will release in theatres on the 10th of May in 2019.