Any fans of the Detective Pikachu movie? Well, you might be in luck, because information revealed by way of an absolutely massive data leak from Game Freak’s servers, the developers behind the Pokémon video game franchise has seemingly confirmed that work has begun on a sequel to the fan-favorite film.
The 2019 film, starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular character and Justice Smith as Tim Goodman, was both a critical and commercial success. Unfortunately for fans, in the years since, absolutely no one attached to the film has given any indication that a follow-up was in the works.
However, that all changed when, on the weekend of October 12th, an absolutely astonishing amount of internal Game Freak files related to the development of not just the Pokémon games, but the franchise overall, were leaked online.
And according to this leak, it appears that The Great Detective Pikachu is on the horizon.
What Does The Leak Say?
Well, it says quite a bit of interesting things. First, it seems that according to the leaked information, the sequel has been in development since 2021 and – here’s the kicker – was originally set for a 2024 release.
So what has stopped the film from making it to theaters? Unfortunately, the leak doesn’t provide any details. Instead, fans have been left to speculate that either something has gone awry with its production, or that the project might have been completely shelved.
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Plot Details Revealed
While the leak did not reveal the full details of the sequel’s production, what it did bring to light was the fact that director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, best known for Kong: Skull Island, will be at its helm.
This marks a shift in tone from the original, as Vogt-Roberts’ work tends to lean toward grand, action-packed visual storytelling, while the first Detective Pikachu blended light-hearted comedy with more mature themes and the occasional set piece.
However, it should be noted that the original film deviated itself from the anime’s more child-friendly depiction of the Pokémon universe – and though not all fans were pleased, particularly die-hard Pokémon enthusiasts who criticized the film for taking too many liberties with the source material – it still garnered significant audience approval. At current, its Rotten Tomatoes holds a strong 79% audience approval rating.
Sequel Challenges
If the movie does ever actually make it into the world, it unfortunately faces two distinct challenges.
First, of course, is that it has to balance its predecessor’s appeal with fan expectations. With some fans still feeling burned by Hollywood’s heavy handed treatment of various video games, comic books, and books, the sequel’s production team will need to avoid ‘going their own way’ in regards to the source material.
The second is the matter of its budget. While the first film earned $450 million globally on a budget of $150 million, in light of the film’s marketing budget (which, for a Hollywood film, is generally assumed to be equal to its production costs) bringing its total price tag closer to $300 million, it’s likely that Nintendo, Game Freak, and Legendary Pictures found that Detective Pikachu‘s profit margin wasn’t as impressive as they wanted it to be.
As such, odds are good that they’ll only green-light another adventure for the electric hero if they’re sure they can fund it in such a way that they get a far greater return on their investment.
What’s Next for the Franchise?
Whether The Great Detective Pikachu will be released remains an open question, as while the leak has provided some insight into the project’s development (or lack thereof), fans are still waiting for an official confirmation regarding its existence.
To this end, in theory, this massive leak could do one of two things. On one hand, it’s possible that with the sequel now being on fans’ radars, Nintendo will choose to ride the wave of attention and confirm its production.
On the other, given that it’s possible that the leaked information was more a wish list of what producers wanted for a sequel, they could also come out and admit that the sequel is definitely not in their pipeline.
Either way, if another movie was coming there is one person who would likely be quite mouthy about it – and that would be, of course, Ryan Reynolds.
So until he says something, we will likely have to sit and wait.
NEXT: Rumor: Netflix’s Live-Action ‘Pokémon’ Still In Development, Red To Serve As Series Protagonist