Ryan Reynolds to play Pikachu in live-action Pokemon film ‘Detective Pikachu’

Well, guess that rumour isn’t that far off as The Celebrity Insider has confirmed that Ryan Reynolds will be the voice of Pikachu in the live-action movie, Detective Pikachu.

Reynolds will star alongside Justice Smith (whose father is kidnapped, providing the dumpy detective’s first case) and Kathryn Newton (a journalist who has no issue with tagging along for the ride).

Past year it was announced that a live-action Pokémon film was in development. Filming on the project is expected to start soon.

Rob Letterman will helm the film which will begin shooting in London this January. In 2016, Pokemon became more popular as a gaming app. Pokemons are fictional creatures created by Nintendo who have special powers.

The Pokemon franchise has sold over 300 million video games worldwide, shipped 23.6 billion TCG cards to 74 countries and has produced an animated series spanning 20 seasons.

The trade publication, citing unnamed sources, said the role is “motion-capture in nature”.

Reynolds will also been seen as Wade Wilson aka Deadpool in next year’s Deadpool 2, which arrives in cinemas on June 1, 2018.

The Pokemon Company’s long-standing movie collaborator, Toho, will handle distribution of the film franchise in Japan, as it recently worked in partnership with Legendary on the reboot for the “Godzilla” franchise.