Despite being one of the most popular and well-recognised franchises in the world, it sounds like the future of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Entertainment’s CGI/live-action hybrid Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is unlikely.
In an interview with Inverse, Justice Smith, who played Pikachu’s companion Tim Goodman, has revealed that he is doubtful that a sequel to the 2019 Pokémon movie will happen but would be open to returning if it went into development in the future.
“I would love to participate in Detective Pikachu 2. I don’t know if it’s going to happen,” Smith said. “I think we have to just kind of bury our hopes. I don’t think it’s going to happen. I really hope so though. Honestly, I’m such a huge fan, who knows, who knows? I hope so.”
Following the successful launch of Detective Pikachu, which was a loose retelling of the 3DS video game of the same name, plans for a follow-up film were announced to be in the works but it seems that WB and Legendary have since backtracked on the project. The film had a decent box office performance by earning $433 million – making it the second-highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time behind Warcraft – as well as garnering favourable reviews from critics and audiences alike.
