Ken Watanabe Joins in for the Live-action "Detective Pikachu"

A new cast member is introduced for the upcoming live-action film “Detective Pikachu” and it is none other than Japanese actor Ken Watanabe.

Ken Watanabe is an actor who began his career in 1979 is best known for his tragic hero roles, especially to English-speaking audience. His most prominent roles include as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in “Letters from Iwo Jima” and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in “The Last Samurai”, both films in which he gained an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination.

For the film, he will be taking on the role of Detective Yoshida. Along with as the cast for the film are:

Ryan Reynolds as Detective Pikachu
Justice Smith as the main character
Kathryn Newton as the “sassy journalist” Lucy.

There are no full details confirmed for the story as of yet but what has been confirmed is that Smith’s character sets out with Detective Pikachu in order to solve the mystery of his missing father. Directing the film is Rob Letterman, while taking charge of the films are Alex Hirsch and Nicole Perlman.

Production has already begun in London mid-January and upon the film’s release in May 2019, it will be distributed by TOHO in Japan while Universal Studios will take care of distribution outside of Japan.

It was in July 2016 that news regarding the film first came to light. The film is an adaptation of the adventure game “Detective Pikachu”. The spin-off game was released in February 2016 in Japan and will be released worldwide in March 2018. It was developed by Creatures Inc., published by The Pokémon Company, and distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS.

The focus of the game was, as the name states, a Pikachu, a rather peculiar Pikachu at that. Though he may not be as fast or nimble as his brethren, his is far more intelligent and even claims to be a great detective. When he encounters a young boy named Tim Goodman and realizes that the boy can understand what he is saying, he makes the decision to team with him and now the two works together in solving the various mysteries that surround the Pokemon in the city.

Source: Anime Anime