Pokémon Go live-action movie talks already underway

Pikachu is heading for the big screen with the Pokémon Go craze already sparking talk of a live-action movie.

The augmented reality smartphone game, which has players wandering the globe in a bid to catch and train new Pokémon, has added a massive £6.8 billion to Nintendo’s value after launching earlier this month.

Details of a possible new Pokémon film remain scarce at this stage but Hollywood insider website Deadline has reported that Legendary Pictures is in the final stages of buying the rights, with Max Landis (Victor Frankenstein, Power Rangers) the hot favourite to pen a screenplay.

There have been vague discussions over new Pokémon movies for a while, but the overnight success of Pokémon Go seems to have studios biting again. It is not yet known whether the game itself will feature in the movie, or whether it would just tell a new story about the Japanese pocket monsters and their trainers.

Pokémon has starred on the silver screen before, notably in 1999 when Pokémon: The First Movie grossed $163 million worldwide. However, Pokémon Heroes from 2003 flopped, taking just $28 million, so it remains to be seen whether Charmander could still set fire to the box office.

In the meantime, it might be time to dig out your ‘shinies’, because Pokémon just got cool again.