Ken Watanabe Joins Pokémon Movie Detective Pikachu

Ken Watanabe is set to join Ryan Reynolds in Detective Pikachu

Ken Watanabe (Inception) will join Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) in the cast of the upcoming Universal Pictures Pokémon movie, titled Detective Pikachu, according to THR. The film will be released in U.S. theaters on Friday, May 10, 2019. Fans familiar with the franchise, those who have kids or those who obsessively played the recent hit mobile gaming app Pokémon Go, know that Pikachu is a type of Pokémon. Detective Pikachu is an investigator who is good at finding lost things. Ken Watanabe will play a character created for the film called Detective Yoshida.

RELATED: Ryan Reynolds is set to star in the upcoming Pokemon film Detective Pikachu

Legendary Entertainment’s Pokemon movie Detective Pikachu is the first live-action film based on the globally popular franchise and will star Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies). Rob Letterman will direct from a script by Nicole Perlman and Alex Hirsch.

First introduced in Japan in 1996, Pokémon has delighted fans of all ages around the world for two decades. With more than 279 million video games sold worldwide, 21.5 billion TCG cards shipped to 74 countries, and an animated series spanning 19 seasons, Pokémon is one of the most successful entertainment brands in the world.

Universal Pictures will handle distribution of the live-action film outside Japan as it has done with Legendary’s other films for years. The Pokémon Company’s long-time movie collaborator, Toho, will handle distribution of the film franchise in Japan, as it had similarly done in its partnership with Legendary on the iconic monster reboot for Godzilla.

The story of Detective Pikachu centers around Smith’s character’s father getting kidnapped. He teams up with Pikachu (Reynolds) to help find him. Newton is a journalist who helps them on their quest.

Ken Watanabe is known for his work in films like Inception, The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Transformers: Age of Extinction and Godzilla.

Are you excited for Detective Pikachu? What do you think of Ken Watanabe joining the cast? Let us know in the comments.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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