Detective Pikachu (film)

The film was officially announced in July 2016,[13] although Legendary Pictures were reported to be in talks as early as April of that year.[14] The Pokémon Company and Letterman wanted to adapt Detective Pikachu because of their interest in making a film that focused on another character besides Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the Pokémon animated TV series. On the premise, Letterman stated, "The Pokémon Company, they've already made many, many movies of Ash, and they came to Legendary with this idea of using a new character. So when I came onboard, I was pitched this character of Detective Pikachu, and I fell in love with the story behind it."[15] The idea of talking Pokémon originated from an early concept for the 1990s TV series, but was scrapped when the original game developer, Game Freak, was unsatisfied with the concept. The idea was revived for the 2016 Detective Pikachu spin-off game.[16] Letterman said that they "spent a year designing all the characters ahead of shooting so that we could get it all right".[17]

On November 30, 2016, Rob Letterman was hired to direct the film, and the studio fast-tracked production to start in 2017.[18] On August 16, 2016, Nicole Perlman and Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch were in negotiations with Legendary to write the screenplay.[19] Later revisions were provided by Eric Pearson, Thomas McCarthy, Derek Connolly, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit and Letterman.[20] Ultimately, Hernandez, Samit, Letterman, and Connolly received screenplay credit, and with Hernandez, Samit and Perlman receiving "story by" billing.

In November 2017, Justice Smith was cast in the lead human role, with Kathryn Newton added to costar after an intense session of reading and testing actresses opposite Smith. Newton beat out Natalia Dyer, Haley Lu Richardson, and Katherine Langford for the role.[21][22] In December 2017, Ryan Reynolds was cast in the title role, portrayed via motion-capture and voice over.[23] Other actors considered for the role of Pikachu were Danny DeVito, Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg and Hugh Jackman.[24][25][26] In January 2018, with production commencing, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy and Chris Geere joined the cast,[27][28] followed by Suki Waterhouse and Rita Ora in February[29][30] and Omar Chaparro in April.[31] In January 2019, Rob Delaney had previously stated that he had a role,[32] but he does not appear in the final cut of the film.

Principal production began on January 15, 2018, in London, England and Denver, Colorado.[33] Nine days later, Legendary announced that principal photography had officially begun.[34][35] Much of the on set interaction and vocal reference for Pikachu was filled in by Jon Bailey. However, all of his dialogue was dubbed over by Ryan Reynolds.[36] Principal photography concluded on May 1, 2018.[37] Some filming took place at Shepperton Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, and Minley Woods in Hampshire, rural areas of Colorado, just outside Denver and Colorado Springs; and Scotland. Filming also took place on Anchor Wharf at the Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent.[38]

The film's cinematographer, John Mathieson, noted that, like his other films, Detective Pikachu was shot on traditional film, in contrast to most other contemporary films which are shot digitally. He said the use of traditional film helps make it "look more realistic".[39]

The film's visual effects were provided by the Moving Picture Company (MPC), Framestore, Image Engine, Rodeo FX, and Instinctual VFX.[40] Much of the visual effects were provided by the same team behind The Jungle Book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Lion King. Letterman compared the visual effects to the character of Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy: "They're technically, some of the most high-end visual effects in the world... It's completely photo-realistic, like they are alive and in the movie." Additional audio recording of a fight between Detective Pikachu and Charizard was recorded during the 2018 Pokémon World Championships.[15]

On March 15, 2019, it was revealed that Legendary will release a graphic novel based on the film.[59] Niantic Labs promoted the film through the Pokémon Go app, by featuring, among other things, select Pokémon from the movie appear in the game, including a limited edition "detective" version of Pikachu.[60] The Pokémon Company released a series of trading cards featuring images from the film, including a limited edition Detective Pikachu card only available the first weekend of the film's release. Along with TCG booster pack sets, they produced a limited edition Detective Pikachu Cafe Figure Collection bundle.[61][62] A set of 6 Detective Pikachu toys were also sold at Burger King.[63] Wicked Cool Toys, the current toy partner for the franchise, released figures and plush toys for retail as well.[64]

Initially, Universal Pictures was due to handle distribution outside Japan, while Toho would handle the Japanese distribution.[65] On July 25, 2018, Warner Bros. announced they had taken over worldwide distribution duties (except in Japan and China) from Universal, with the release date unchanged.[66] Warner Bros. also got the film rights for the Pokémon franchise for 30 years.[66] The film received a PG rating from the MPAA, it is the first Pokémon film released in the United States not to receive a G rating.[67]

When the film's Japanese release was announced on November 29, 2018, Ryoma Takeuchi was confirmed to voice Tim Goodman in the Japanese version.[68] Takeuchi also has a brief cameo appearance in the film itself as a Pokémon trainer.[69] On March 20, 2019, it was confirmed that Marie Iitoyo would voice Lucy Stevens and Ken Watanabe would reprise his role as Detective Yoshida, in the Japanese dub.[70] When the film premiered in Japan on May 3, 2019, Hidetoshi Nishijima was confirmed to have voiced Detective Pikachu in the Japanese dub.[71]

The US premiere was held on May 3, 2019, in New York and featured a yellow carpet.[72] Detective Pikachu released shortly after on May 8, 2019, in Europe May 9, 2019, in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia, and May 10, 2019, in China, UK, Ireland, Canada, and the US, in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and ScreenX formats.

Detective Pikachu was released on Digital HD on July 23, 2019, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on August 6, 2019.[73]

The film debuted at the DVD and Blu-ray charts upon the week of its release,[74] and was the second top-selling home video title in August 2019 (after Avengers: Endgame).[75] As of August 2020, the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Detective Pikachu have earned more than $30 million in the United States.[74]

Detective Pikachu grossed $144.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $289.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $433.9 million, against a production budget of $150 million.[4]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Tolkien, Poms and The Hustle, and was projected to gross $50–70 million from 4,202 theaters.[3][76] The film made $20.7 million on its first day, including $5.7 million from Thursday night previews, both records for a film based on a video game.[77] Detective Pikachu went on to debut to $54.4 million, finishing second at the weekend box office behind holdover Avengers: Endgame, though it did top the Friday box office on its opening day.[78][79] At the time, it was the best-ever opening for a video game film, (the record was broken the following year by Sonic the Hedgehog with $58 million)[80][81] and was also the sixth-highest total for a film that did not debut number one at the box office.[82] In its second weekend, the film made $24.8 million, finishing third behind John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Avengers: Endgame,[83] and then made $13.3 million in its third weekend, finishing fourth.[84]

In other territories, the film was projected to debut to $90–120 million from 62 countries, including $40–60 million in China.[85] Prior to its worldwide release, the film grossed $21 million from openings and previews in several international markets, including Japan, through Thursday.[86] The film had an international opening weekend debut of $103 million (and a five-day debut of $112.4 million), dethroning Avengers: Endgame at the top of the international box office.[87] Detective Pikachu topped the international box office again in its second weekend.[88] Despite breaking records, the film fell below expectations due to the high budget.[89]

In Japan, the film opened at number three (behind Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire and Avengers: Endgame), grossing ¥948 million ($8.6 million) in its opening weekend,[90] before topping the box office in its second weekend, with a cumulative ¥1,465,395,700[91] ($13,327,837).[92] In China, Detective Pikachu had an opening day gross of $16.4 million,[93] and topped the box office with a weekend debut of $40.8 million.[86] It topped the Chinese box office again in its second week, with a cumulative $69.3 million.[94] In the United Kingdom, it topped the box office with a £4.9 million ($6.6 million) debut.[95] As of May 26, 2019, the film's largest international markets are China ($84.4 million), Japan ($21.2 million), the United Kingdom ($13.6 million), Mexico ($10.4 million), and Germany ($9.5 million).[96]

The design of Detective Pikachu and Ryan Reynolds's portrayal of the character received critical praise.[97][98]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 68% based on 312 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Pokémon Detective Pikachu may not take its wonderfully bizarre premise as far as it could have, but this offbeat adaptation should catch most – if not all – of the franchise's fans."[99] It was the first international theatrical live-action video game adaptation to maintain a "fresh" rating and it was the highest rated video game adaptation on the site, until it was surpassed by The Angry Birds Movie 2.[100] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on reviews from 48 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[101] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while general audiences polled by PostTrak gave it 4 out of 5 stars.[78]

Scott Mendelson of Forbes called the film "the best video game movie ever" and wrote, "Detective Pikachu works because it's a good movie first and a promising franchise-starter or a brand cash-in second. It's a real film, rooted in character arcs and narrative twists with just enough raw emotion and personal stakes to make the significant special effects moments matter beyond spectacle."[102] CNET's Sean Keane called it the best film ever based on a video game, saying it achieves the balance of appealing to existing fans as well as potential new audiences. Keane praised Reynolds performance and called the film "an entertaining romp with plenty of heart".[97] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave the film 3/5 stars, noting the film's similarities to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and that it did not attempt to familiarize viewers with the franchise, but stated that it "feels more intriguing than it does derivative, and it’s a delight for fans to see how immersive this world actually feels."[103] Simran Hans of The Observer gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "What’s clever is the way this live-action spinoff exploits nostalgia for the family-friendly blockbusters of the late 1980s and the 1990s... rather than the Japanese “Pocket Monsters” themselves."[104]

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen said, "Although the script ... tends to compartmentalize the comedy, action and emotional bits rather than organically blending them all together, Letterman's energetic direction manages to hold everything aloft."[105] Alonso Duralde's mixed review for TheWrap describes the film as feeling "both ambitious and lazy, frenzied and sluggish".[106] Peter Debruge of Variety was critical of the plot and the special effects: "Though consistent with the games ... the story of Detective Pikachu doesn't allow nearly enough Pokémon-related action, while the quality of the computer animation ... falls far short of the basic level of competency audiences have come to expect from effects movies." Debruge was also critical of the central pairing of Pikachu and Tim Goodman, saying the relationship lacks chemistry.[107] Kate Erbland of Indiewire gave the film a mixed review, praising the "awe-inspiring" visuals but criticizing the messy plot, saying that "no amount of technical polish can detract from a thin narrative that confuses far more than it amuses", and complaining that many of the best jokes were in the trailer.[108]