Just last month an article in this website revealed that Pokemon’s first movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back, will be getting a 3DCG remake and will be renamed Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution. Now new details about the upcoming 3DCG remake were revealed along with a brand-new trailer which was posted on Pokemon’s official website.
Most of the original main cast of the 1998 movie are confirmed to be returning to voice the remake. This includes Ash, his friends and even Jesse and James of the Team Rocket duo. This also includes enka singer Sachiko Kobayashi, who originally voiced Voyager in the first movie, and Koichi Yamadera who voiced legendary Pokemon Mew. Masachika Ichimura, who voiced Mewtwo in the original movie, was previously confirmed to return to the movie as well.
Besides voicing Voyager, Sachiko Kobayashi also returned to sing the movie’s ending theme song Kaze to Issho Ni (With the Wind). This time, however, she will be joined by well-known singer Shoko Nakagawa in performing the theme song. Their cover duet will be published by Sony Music and will ship out on July 10.
Kunihiko Yuyama is directing the film, with Motonori Sakakibara (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) as assistant director. The 1998 film’s original scriptwriter, Takeshi Shudo, is still credited as such even though he already passed away in 2010. The 3DCG animation for the movie was done by OLM Digital.
As Evolution is simply a remake, its story will still be the same as that of the 1998 film. Viz Media, which holds the license to release Pokemon media in the West, describes the movie’s story as such:
In Pokémon The First Movie, the adventure explodes into action with the debut of Mewtwo, a bio-engineered Pokémon created from the DNA of Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. After escaping from the lab where it was created, Mewtwo is determined to prove its own superiority. It lures a number of talented Trainers into a Pokémon battle like never before—and of course, Ash and his friends are happy to accept the challenge!
Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution is set for a July 12 release in Japan. No international screening dates have been announced as of this writing.
Source: Anime News Network