Update: Legendary Pictures have scooped up the rights to live-action Pokemon

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Update: Well, it's official. Deadline has confirmed that Legendary Pictures have now closed a deal to launch the first live-action film franchise based upon Pokémon. Production on the project is expected to begin next year and will apparently revolve around Detective Pikachu, "a new character and story in the Pokémon universe. The world first met Detective Pikachu through a video game in Japan, and further details of how his story will be told are being kept under wraps for the moment."

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Over the past week it seems that you can't go anywhere, either online or in the waking world, without hearing all about people playing Pokémon Go. The recently released app lets players create an avatar which moves throughout the game map as you travel through the real world searching for Pokémon. There's definitely more to it than that, but long story short, Pokémon Go has become absolutely huge and has given the franchise a major boost.

As with most things that enjoy a sudden resurgence in popularity, there's been a rush to scoop up the film rights. Deadline is reporting that Legendary Pictures is looking to move towards a deal in order to land the rights to make a live-action film based on the franchise. The bidding war over Pokémon actually kicked off several months ago with Legendary, Sony, and Warner Bros. all in the mix, but it seems that Legendary may walk away with the big Pokéball. The franchise has always been big business, but there's no denying that Pokémon Go's popularity has brought in a new legion of fans hungry for more. There have been over a dozen Pokémon films released over the years, but should this deal go through, it would be the first official live-action feature film adaptation of the franchise.

How do you feel about a live-action Pokémon film?