7 Facts About Detective Pikachu
Many Pokemon fans were excited about this film: Detective Pikachu has hit the cinemas! And to go with that, I've put together 7 facts for you! Enjoy reading!
Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen the film yet, you should not read any further, the article contains spoilers!
1. Most successful game adaptation of all time
This film brings together old and young Pokemon fans, and you can see that in the ticket sales. On its opening weekend, Detective Pikachu took in an incredible $58 million at the American box office, breaking the record. This makes the film already the most successful game adaptation of all time.
2. The template is a 3DS game
In February 2016, the game Detective Pikachu: The Making of a New Duo was released exclusively in the Japanese Nintendo 3DS e-Shop. The game included three chapters in which Tim Goodman and Detective Pikachu had to search for his missing father. Two years later, in March 2018, the game was released in an expanded version under the title Detective Pikachu with a total of nine chapters.
3. The film was leaked in advance
At least that's what Ryan Reynolds wanted everyone to believe when he told Warner Bros. via Twitter that the film could already be seen in advance on YouTube. And indeed, if you click on the link you will be linked to a YouTube video that runs for over 100 minutes.
This was of course a PR gag and in the video the master detective shows what else he can do really well: aerobics with 80s sound!
Here you can find the aerobics video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAA_yWX8ycQ&t=143s
4. That’s why Ash doesn’t play
There are now 21 movies in which Ash plays the main role alongside the Pokemon. This was the main reason why the Pokemon Company wanted a change of scenery and asked Legendary Film to change the character this time. The idea wasn't that far off, since the game already has Tim as the main character alongside Pikachu and not Ash.
5. Pantimo almost didn't make it into the film
The somewhat odd Pokemon was not easy to implement during production, as it was initially more scary than cute. But even before that, the Pokemon Company was not thrilled that the Pokemon of all things should play a role in the movie. They simply did not know what Mime was actually supposed to be and whether he was suitable for the film.
6. For the sake of the children
If you can be the director of a Pokemon film, why not just take the children's wishes into account? Rob Letterman thought the same thing and brought in Jigglypuff for his daughter's sake. His son didn't have to beg for long for his favorite Pokemon to make it to the big screen, because it was already included in the story. Mewtwo is already in the game template, so of course he was also used in the film.
7. Further sequels are planned
Before the film was released, a sequel was already planned. Given its enormous success, this is not so far-fetched, but more details are not yet known.
Things are a little different with the sequel for the 3DS game. The Pokemon Company has already announced that there will be a sequel for the Switch. But when that will be is still up in the air.
