The Pokemon franchise has existed for quite some time and tallied up quite the resume of stories, films, games, and the like. So it was thought of as quite bizarre that, of all that that the franchise has to offer, The Pokemon Company decided to adapt an obscure 3DS game in which Pikachu can talk and solves crimes into a live-action movie. And not only that but the very first live-action movie in the franchise.
Benji Samit, one of the writers of the live-action film, recently featured on a podcast (via
Gamefragger) on which he revealed The Pokemon Company's reasoning for choosing such a game to adapt. First, Samit revealed that he and his co-writer, Dan Hernandez, had no say in the matter as the source material was decided upon before they became involved.
"When we first got involved, it was already Detective Pikachu. I think some of those conversations happened before us. Detective Pikachu is what Legendary and the Pokemon Company were in agreement of."
Samit said that he thinks its the game's weirdness and obscurity that gave it the edge over the other stories that the franchise had to offer.
"If we're going to make a live action Pokemon movie, it needs to be different. It needs a reason to exist. We don't want to just remake movies we've already seen before." He continued, stating that he was emphatically behind the idea as soon as he was brought on-board.
"I think they rightfully thought this weird side-game that most people were not familiar with was actually a really cool thing to see in live action. Ryme City and Pokemon and people living together is such a cinematic thing [and] that's what they wanted to do from very early on. When we first heard about it, we were like, 'Yeah, that sounds awesome!'"
Synopsis: Ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son, Tim, to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry's former Pokémon partner, wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth Detective Pikachu. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to work together, as Tim is the only human who can talk with Pikachu, they join forces to unravel the tangled mystery.