Rumour: The Pokémon Company Plans to Make a Big-Budget Live-Action Pokémon Movie

Yeah, no. Kill the idea. Kill it with Fire Blast.

@Shepdawg1 Yeah, no. Are you aussie?

Cast Danny Devito this time and you have my money.

Would've preferred a CGI Pokemon movie tbh.

@DarthNocturnal I agree. The "pikachu" in the Pokemon Super Bowl commercial looked like a fat yellow dog. But if they do them normal, like they're supposed to look, then they'll look weird, kinda like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, but that's part of the appeal of that movie. This would just be too strange for most people, fans of pokemon or not.

This actually sounds kinda cool, if they can come up with a good original plot for the movie, I'm in!

Oh my god, no.

I mean as long as we don't get something like this, I think I'll be okay.

So long as the Pokemon themselves are CGI like in the recent ads (Pokemon GO reveal trailer, Super Bowl commercial), then I suppose it could be interesting. Otherwise, kill it with fire. Just don't let the studio that did the live action Last Airbender and DBZ movies get a hold of it.

This is my critique on this: https://youtu.be/H07zYvkNYL8

Only if it's good. Watching the anime in retrospect makes me wither inside.

You know what? I actually would be interested to see what they do with a live-action Pokemon movie.
Definitely wouldn't be quick to dismiss the idea without something to show for it.

Don't like live action movies in general..

A live action Yu-Gi-Oh movie ain't bad but a live action Pokemon movie? I'm not sure it'll work out. To some it'll probably fall into Uwe Boll quality.

This old Yu-Gi-Oh commercial shows what live action dual monsters would look like if done right.

It could be all right, but I doubt it'll be a great movie, if they allow it. They will definitely need to change the pokemon appearances a bit. It would be really easy to make the pokemon look way off or too cartoonish.

I think if the Pokemon company has a lot of input into how the Pokemon are adapted to the format, this could be pretty good. I'd be ok if they tweak them a bit to make them fit in a real world setting, but they can't stray too far from the source material.

This could be a really bad idea... some things just don't translate well to reality. I think Pokemon would be one of them - they will waste too much time explaining the world and how pokeballs work, the different types, etc. and will never be able to get a story going.

@gardevoir7 Instead of him playing the part of just Pikachu, though, Danny Devito should just play the part of everyone. There's no need for anyone else to be involved. Then, next Pokemon games, Danny Devito becomes a major character. This better happen, Pokemon company, or you've lost all my money already.

Some things should just stay cartoonish. POKÉMON IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS!!!

Legendary pictures is now with Universal.
Nintendo is working on a deal with Universal.

Please don't make it dark and gritty... PLEASE make it like the Pokémon Go trailer...

There would be no demand for a live action movie if the traditionally animated movies were any good.

They need to retire Ash and start fresh (though this would require them to come up with fresh stories every week). The Ash+Pikachu+Team Rocket schtick got tired 17 years ago. I'd be far more inclined to watch the more recent movies if that idiot Ash wasn't in them. I watched the beginning of the first movie recently and was surprised by how good those first 10-15 minutes were... and then Ash made his entrance. -.-

We've heard rumblings of companies trying to get the rights to a live action movie for years. Let's not go crazy until one gets the rights.

Just an unsubstantiated rumour in my view.

@sillygostly If you watched the anime or the movies, you'd know that Ash isn't an "idiot" anymore. They come up with fresh stories all the time, too. You're basing your view on the anime based on how it was 17 years ago.

I've always disliked the horrifically flat anime, being near 30 now and considering when it was released in the UK, I was too old to take anything from it but have always loved Pokemon on the gaming side, merch/image side and dabble in the card side on occasion.

This holds little appeal for someone like me (of course I'll wait to see how it comes out, but still) however I know my son and daughter would love this. Frankly they need to mirror the anime somewhat to make the real money, I think.

Shame there wasn't a bigger fanfare over the Origins anime, now THAT was good.

And I have seen bits of the newer episodes (via my son). It is still awful.

Kill it!!!!!!!! KILL IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't get why people are so against video game movie adaptations. I honestly just don't get it. Yeah they're usually not that good, but... I don't know. I guess I personally don't see bad movies to be a stain upon a video game franchise. Although, if the movie only featured Gen 1 Pokemon and was based around Red and Blue or something, then okay into the trash it goes, but I'm always willing to give a video game movie a shot.

we already have a Live Action Pokemon Movie Remember

I do hope it goes down well, but I'm honestly really worried.

Oh dear. This can't turn out well. Turning a cartoon aimed at small kids into a live-action movie? Urgh. -_-'
A CGI animated movie could work, but live action? No way.

Even if it turns out like the "Super Mario Bros." or "Dragon Ball" movies, it'll still be hideously entertaining to say the least.

When I was an 8 year old kid in 2000 i would've loved this! But now? I'm not so sure.

It'll be done. Believe me it'll be done. For what purpose other than to print money I don't know. But Pokemon is exactly the sort of property movie producers would give their right hand to obtain the rights for. Probably the biggest franchise ever to have not gotten a live action spinoff.

Wow, Pokemon is really getting serious about their IP this year.

Is it going to be a female playing Ash...like the voice of Ash in the cartoons??? Anyways, they'd have to play this movie to children, due to the age of the kids in the cartoon series. If they make it more adults catching and training, then they'd have to make it a little more edgier. Other than that, the pokemon would probably all be CGI, and since it works with dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, it could work. With Universal on track with it (since Spielberg owns them, maybe he could even help) it could be good, but most of the video game movies start looking out of date in less than 5 years later (Mortal Kombat looks pretty horrible nowadays).

Even if they do make it, doesn't mean that it's going to be a hit or flop, but nobody has to watch it. It'll do good for its first few weeks...just because it's Pokemon, then it'll go from there. Companies will pick it up just because of the popularity and the fact that all Hollywood gets anymore is Remakes, Revisions and more Geek-Superhero movies. Plus, Ratchet And Clank and Angry Birds are getting moves made...Angry Birds???

Please don't let be associated with michael bay,those people from pixels, ect

Riveting. Please no.

...Honestly, I'd be more optimistic about this than I am for that Sonic one...still not a whole lot, though.

@IceClimbers I was thinking about that last DBZ movie and Airbender when I read this. Horrible movies, but that didn't keep them from being made.

I think a closer example is Scooby-Doo. Who would have thought that 70's cartoon about some meddlesome kids and their dog could have ever been done in live action? And that the movie would get a sequel?

Pokémon will be CG, like the current Jungle Book.

Legendary is also making a new Godzilla movie, Kong Island, and Godzilla vs. Kong, so there CG mix with live action department is in full swing.

A Legendary film could be interesting depending on how they do it, but a live action Pokemon film would just feel....weird no matter what. Though if they do a dark film about a Pokemon war, that could be something.

Question is, what will they adapt? Will it be an adaptation to the original games kind of like Origins or will it adapt the TV Show in some way? Or will it be an entirely original story?

The possibilities...

I would have to agree CGI or traditional would be a better fit for a Poemon movie can you imagine how some of the mon would look if rendered realistically

This could be very neat, if enough time and dedication goes into it.

As long as the Pokemon are CGI and not some gross Live Action concoction it may not be so bad

Another huge question: do they go with the Poke-speak of the cartoon show, with the Pokemon saying their names, or do they use realistic animal sounds? If it's the former, they've already lost me.

@schizor I thought so too. Even CGI Pokemon (like Battle Revolution) are kind of ugly.

Erm... nope! Don't even go there.

Yeah no thanks. I mean based on the high quality cartoon Pokemon movies we get, I can't imagine this being anything but a huge financial drain on Nintendo.

Do full cg and I may watch it.

It has great potential, but I won't get excited because Transformers 1-5...

Oh gosh, one of the worst ideas I've heard lately.
If they're gonna turn it into a Hollywood blockbuster (as it appears they are) it'll end up being the same old dumb movie we've seen over and over again: good guy who has to save something (like the world) from the bad guys who actually don't have a real motivation for what they do but hey, there's gotta be some baddies, right? Oh, and I forgot to mention the random romance thrown in just because. Something like "the protagonist is a loser with no friends but becomes a hero and therefore his dream girl falls in love with him and blah blah blah". God how I hate those dumb movies.
And the icing on these nausea-inducing cake will be ugly CGI beasts with no close resemblance to Pokémon that run around scraming their names (if they choose to follow the anime; let's hope they won't...), AND a complete revision of all the rules that regulate the Pokémon world (battles, Balls, etc.). Because we know how much Hollywood loves to reinvent the source material in bad ways.
Yeah, these news got me depressed lol

They'd have to careful, (Pokemon's value as a brand or whatever) but I say give 'er. Why not?

OH GOD NO. The Pokemon anime is perfectly fine the way it is. Remember the last time a Nintendo IP got turned into a live action movie?

I wouldn't mind an animated movie based off of the games... but...

I would love it to be done well but I somehow doubt it would be

If Warner Bros give it a gritty reboot, I will cry

I'd prefer a live-action Zelda or Metroid film... Hell, a live-action Mario would be a better idea than this. I won't completely write this off though, it could still be interesting.

In all frankness, it is hard to have a story properly make the jump from medium to another. For the most part most good books generally end up as bad movies because you just can't get into the mind of the characters as well as one could in books. From games to movies, you would have so much to pull from that it would be hard to condense it all and make it coherent. Also one tends to afford less suspension of disbelief to a live action movie than you would a video game. So that tightrope would have to be crossed.

This is not to say that games will always make bad movies(I remembered being decently entertained by that old Prince of Persia movie ) but it really is not as easy as one would think.