A few years before The Last of Us was being hailed as the greatest videogame adaptation ever made (an assessment we'd definitely agree with), that accolade arguably deserved to go to Detective Pikachu. The first live-action Pokémon movie received positive reviews from fans and critics alike and earned a respectable $340 million at the worldwide box office.
A sequel seemed like a given and was actually announced prior to the first instalment's release in 2019. Sonic the Hedgehog scribe Oren Uziel was attached to write the movie, though Polygon (via GameFragger.com) is reporting that while he did end up penning an outline and screenplay, he's no longer working on the project.
However, a representative for Legendary Entertainment tells the site that Detective Pikachu 2 remains "in active development." The studio declined to reveal any further details, including who is working on it, while The Pokémon Company declined to comment...needless to say, that's not the most promising update!
Detective Pikachu writers Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez recently confirmed that they're not currently involved, and we're guessing these apparent delays are down to how protective The Pokémon Company is of the iconic franchise.
We also can't help but wonder whether the news that broke back in June 2021 may have something to do with Detective Pikachu 2 being sidelined.
Netflix entered a deal with The Pokémon Company that summer to develop a live-action TV series. Legendary, meanwhile, is now working with Sony Pictures instead of Warner Bros., and while they continue to share some properties with the studio (Warners co-financed Detective Pikachu) the sequel may be caught in the middle of some complicated red tape.
The fact the movie hasn't been completely scrapped is a positive, though, and we're hoping this means we'll eventually get some news about Netflix's plans for the franchise. You'd think live-action Pokémon would be all over our screens by now, but the pandemic seems to have slowed things down on that front, so we may continue having to be patient.
Do you hope Detective Pikachu 2 happens? Weigh in with your thoughts below.