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Detective Pikachu Film Japanese Dub's Ryōma Takeuchi Gets Onscreen Cameo
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official Japanese website for Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros.' live-action Pokémon Detective Pikachu film revealed on Thursday that Ryōma Takeuchi (left in image at right), the Japanese dub voice actor for protagonist Tim Goodman, will also make an onscreen cameo in the movie. Takeuchi will play a Pokémon trainer, which will be his first role in a Hollywood film.
The film's director Rob Letterman (right in image at right) reportedly met Takeuchi at a press event in November. Letterman was reportedly impressed by Takeuchi when he met him and decided to offer him the cameo.
The film will open in Japan on May 3 and then debut in the United States on May 10.
Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) plays Detective Pikachu. Justice Smith (The Get Down) stars as main character Tim Goodman, a teen who teams with Pikachu in order to find his missing father, and Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) plays the "sassy journalist" Lucy. Ken Watanabe (Legendary's Godzilla) plays original character Detective Yoshida. The cast also includes Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Love Actually), Chris Geere (You're the Worst), Suki Waterhouse (Assassination Nation), Rita Ora (Fifty Shades Freed), and Omar Chaparro (Stuck, Overboard 2018). In the Japanese dub, Marie Iitoyo plays Lucy.
Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Letterman are writing the film's scripts. The film started production in London in mid-January 2018. Warner Bros. will distribute the film in North America, and TOHO will distribute the film in Japan. A sequel has reportedly already been greenlit.
The film is based on the Detective Pikachu Nintendo 3DS game, which debuted in Japan in 2016. An extended version shipped in the West in March 2018.
Legendary Entertainment acquired the live-action film rights for the Pokémon franchise in July 2016.
Legendary Comics will publish a graphic novel adaptation of the film. Brian Buccellato is writing the work, and Nelson Dániel is drawing the art.
Sources: Pokémon Detective Pikachu film's Japanese website, The Mainchi Shimbun's Mantan Web
