Legendary Entertainment's "Detective Pikachu," the live-action spinoff of the popular Pokémon franchise is scheduled to begin production very soon, and it looks like the film's producers have signed another big name to provide an additional boost to the project's star power.
It has been announced that "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds, who is signed to play the movie's titular character, will be joined by veteran Japanese actor Ken Watanabe, who gained international fame for his roles in big-budget Hollywood films such as "Batman Begins", "Inception", the 2014 "Godzilla" remake, and "Transformers: Age of Extinction."
But perhaps Watanabe's defining moment was when he played the samurai lord Moritsugu Katsumoto in the Tom Cruise-led 2003 historical drama "The Last Samurai," for which the actor received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.
The 58-year-old actor will reportedly play the role of Detective Yoshida, who will team up with the franchise's flagship character to help him track down the missing father of a young boy, who will be played by "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" star Justice Smith.
"Detective Pikachu" is based on the 2016 Nintendo 3ds of the same name, where the player solves various cases by going around the city and interacting with several people and Pokémon in order to find clues.
Ryan Reynolds will provide the voice and motion capture for the character, who is very different from other Pikachu of its kind due to its heightened intelligence that allows it to solve problems and communicate with humans, although it does not possess the usual traits of an ordinary Pikachu such as being able to move nimbly or have the ability to generate electricity.
"Detective Pikachu" is scheduled for release on May 10, 2019, with Universal Pictures handling the movie's distribution outside of Japan. It will be released in Japanese theaters courtesy of film company Toho Co, Ltd.
