Director announced for live-action Pokemon film

A director has been announced for the upcoming live-action Pokemon film centered around Detective Pikachu.

THR reports that Rob Letterman, director of Goosebumps, will helm the Pokemon movie.

Recently, Legendary Pictures acquired the rights to the film and are expected to begin production next year. Legendary will produce the film with Universal Pictures distributing the movie internationally. Sources say that Netflix was also interested but lost out to the other studios.

We found out in April that “a top-secret auction” for the film rights was underway with Legendary, Warner Bros. and Sony all interested. But Legendary won the race with Chronicle writer Max Landis penning the screenplay.

With the success of Niantic’s Pokemon Go, it’s no surprise to see Pokemon make its way onto the big screen.

Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Team came out in Japan on Nintendo 3DS earlier this year and the film may very well be set around the game, although plot and character details are yet to be revealed.