DETECTIVE PIKACHU Adds Bill Nighy And Chris Geere
Photos: Maarten de Boer
Do enough searching online and you’re likely to spot some set pictorals from the London shoot of Rob Letterman’s Detective Pikachu from Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures. Further stills await more casting news coming and production officially underway as of last week based on the latest game which hits North American shores this Spring on Nintendo 3DS.
Those updates continue as of Thursday with actors Golden Globe® winning actor Bill Nighy and British actor Chris Geere set to star as a father and son duo in the new film next to Ryan Reynolds, Ken Watanabe, Justice Smith and Kathryn Newton. Plot details remain pending from a script by Letterman and co-scribe Nicole Perlman with Eric Pearson and Tom McCarthy having completed the production polishes that ultimately welcome Detective Pikachu, a new character in the highly popular Pokémon universe.
Nighy won a Golden Globe award for his role in Gideon’s Daughter in 2007 and other past credits include Love Actually and Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. He is represented by CAA and Markham, Froggatt and Irwin. Geere’s credits include playing the lead role as Jimmy Shive-Overly on FXX’s You’re The Worst and recently as Professor Arvin Fennerman on Modern Family. He is represented by UTA, Waring and McKenna, and Creative Partners Group.
Pokémon has delighted fans of all ages around the world for over two decades. With more than 300 million video games sold worldwide, 23.6 billion Pokémon TCG cards shipped to 74 countries, and an animated series spanning 20 seasons, Pokémon is one of the most successful entertainment properties in the world.
Mary Parent and Cale Boyter will produce for Legendary Entertainment, with Joe Caracciolo, Jr. and Pokémon’s Tsunekazu Ishihara executive producing and Legendary’s Alexandra Mendes co-producing.
Universal Pictures will handle distribution of Detective Pikachu outside Japan. Toho will distribute in Japan, as it has done in its partnership with Legendary on the blockbuster monster reboot for Godzilla.