Chances are, you’ve already seen “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” the absolutely wonderful new film based on the beloved franchise (and, by our estimation, the greatest videogame adaptation ever). By extension, you’ve probably been charmed by the array of imaginary creatures that populate the film, living side-by-side with humans in a kind of futuristic utopian city. You’ve probably also asked yourself, how do they look so good? (I asked myself the same question.) Well, we got a chance to talk to Erik Nordby, the visual effects supervisor for “Pokémon Detective Pikachu.” (He works for Moving Picture Company, or MPC, one of the most impressive visual effects houses in the world – just this year they’ve worked on “Dumbo,” “Dark Phoenix,” “Shazam!,” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” on top of pretty much everything in “The Lion King.”) And Nordby explained just how they brought Pikachu and the rest of the Pokémon gang to life.
One of the biggest compliments that you can give “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is that it often has the feeling of a fantasy movie from the 1980s that Jim Henson’s Creature Shop provided characters for. And, somewhat unsurprisingly, Nordby said they looked at “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth” for inspiration, as well as “Where the Wild Things Are” (a more recent film that the Creature Shop worked on). But that wasn’t where the puppet appreciation ended.
There was a full-sized Pikachu puppet on set for the actors to interact with and to help establish eyelines as well as how the character would reflect on objects in the real world. The puppet was so detailed, in fact, that the visual effects team said that they considered just letting the puppet stay in the shot for one where the camera was fairly far away (ultimately the idea was scrapped because at that point in production the puppet had gotten pretty raggedy).
But when it came to animating the characters, they still looked to the puppet world. They actually hired puppeteers to advise them on the process and, after hyper-realistic models were “broken” by the animators, gave each character “20% more stiffness” than a character would normally have. By limiting the character’s movements and taking having virtually no “squash and stretch” (the animation practice of giving the characters’ elasticity and, by extension, more life), the characters became more believable and were able to fit into the stylized movie universe more seamlessly. Nordby stressed that they still tried to make them move as realistically as possible, and that these self-imposed limitations actually helped achieve that.
Another interesting anecdote about trying to make them look and move as realistically as possible was that there was a lot of back-and-forth between the effects team and the Japanese Pokémon group that controls the characters. Apparently anytime the fur started to look too real they would respond that it didn’t look real, it looked dirty. This baffled the MPC team (these are the animators that made “The Jungle Book” after all), but the note kept coming back – anytime the characters look too sophisticated, the Japanese team felt they looked “dirty.” So a happy medium between true-to-life and from-the-videogame had to be struck.
And before I ended my chat with Nordby, I had to ask about the backlash to the “Sonic the Hedgehog” trailer (MPC is one of several effects houses contributing to the film, too). He said that he felt really bad for the animators working on the film and that most likely it was a matter of not having enough time. Nordby and his team had more than a year to prep for “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” but that was also by accident and also was necessary given the complex back-and-forth with the parent company. In other words: the production moved just as quickly as the little blue hedgehog.
Earth’s mightiest heroes defeated all newcomers to rule the box office for a third weekend: “Avengers: Endgame” took in $65 million, bringing its domestic gross to $724 million.
That surpasses the totals of “Avengers: Infinity War“s ($679 million) and “Black Panther” ($700 million) to become the third-highest grossing movie of all time at the domestic box office. It’s still the second-biggest film ever globally with $2.48 billion, just behind “Avatar“‘s $2.78 billion. (James Cameron will have to take out another ad soon: He placed a congratulatory notice when “Endgame” overtook “Titanic.”)
Warner Bros.
In second place this weekend was “Detective Pikachu,” starring Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the adorable Pokémon character and Justice Smith as his new partner. It pulled in a solid $58 million from 4,202 venues.
That’s the best-ever debut for a movie based on a video game ever, topping “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” which opened in 2001 with $47.7 million.
Bad reviews didn’t help Diane Keaton cheerleading comedy “Poms,” which debuted with a disappointing $5.1 million. The movie played to an older female audience, with women representing 75% of opening weekend crowds. Critics gave it 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences were kinder, with a “B+” CinemaScore.
Fox Searchlight
“Tolkien,” a biographical drama starring Nicholas Hoult as “Lord of the Rings” author J. R. R. Tolkien, debuted in ninth place with $2 million from 1,495 locations. It’s the first Fox Searchlight title to be distributed by Disney since the studio purchased Fox’s film assets.
It didn’t fare well with critics, who gave it a 49% Rotten Tomatoes critics rating, but audiences have so far given it a far more positive 85%.
Neon
The highest per-screen-average of the weekend went to the documentary “The Biggest Little Farm,” which debuted with $101,000 from five locations, averaging out to $20,000 per venue. It’s about a couple who filmed their 8-year journey to create a sustainable farm near Los Angeles.
This weekend “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” opens and attempts to break the videogame-based film adaptation curse once and for all. (Although the trailer for “Sonic the Hedgehog” seems to have set those efforts back at least two decades – and it was only a trailer!) There have been dozens of videogame adaptations since the 1990s and most of them have been incredibly terrible (especially those directed by Uwe Boll, an Ed Wood-style master of schlock whose chosen genre seems to be awful videogame adaptations). In fact, it was a stretch to pick 7 movies worthy of your time … or at least your quarters.
7. ‘Super Mario Bros.’ (1993)
Disney
It’s astonishing how few Nintendo games have been adapted for other forms, but it undoubtedly has something to do with “Super Mario Bros,” the first movie based on a videogame and definitely, if not one of the worst, then certainly one of the weirdest. Directed by “Max Headroom” co-creators Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, with a screenplay that was cobbled together by at least a half-dozen writers, this adaptation of the iconic videogame saw a pair of everyday plumbers (Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo) fun afoul of an evil plot and get zapped to a land where dinosaurs had continue to evolve (mostly), ruled by an evil King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). Aesthetically, the movie has a lot going for it, from the overstuffed sets that look like a combination of Tim Burton’s “Batman” and Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil,” to the creature effects that are pleasingly pre-“Jurassic Park” in their simplicity and effectiveness. And on a narrative level, there’s more charm than you probably remember, especially as we brace ourselves for a more “faithful” animated adaptation coming soon.
6. ‘Warcraft’ (2016)
Legendary/Universal
Indie auteur Duncan Jones followed up his beloved, small-scale sci-fi films “Moon” and “Source Code” with this behemoth based on the medieval strategy game of the same name. Orcs and humans are constantly battling it out, for reasons that are never fully explained but always seem unnecessarily complicated (something to do with portals). “Warcraft” can, at times, be an absolute slog, full of clashing swords and questionable accents, although what other movie can you point to that features Ben Foster as an evil wizard and Paula Patton as a green-skinned, half-orc babe? Like many of the best videogame adaptations, its ambitions are enviable, and the visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic would probably have constituted as game-changing had anybody actually seen the movie. “Warcraft” works much better at home, too, when you can pause it whenever you need to and be able to take a walk or make a sandwich.
5. ‘Street Fighter’ (1994)
Universal
Most people point to the original “Mortal Kombat” as one of the best videogame adaptations. But those same people probably haven’t actually watched “Mortal Kombat” in 20 years. Because it is bad. It is very, very bad. Much better, in my estimation, is “Street Fighter,” released the year before “Mortal Kombat.” It’s also based on a fighting game, but has a much better sense of humor, and unlike “Mortal Kombat,” its PG-13 rating doesn’t seem like a betrayal of the source material. (There were no twitching, disembodied spinal columns in “Street Fighter.”) As written and directed by “Die Hard” co-screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, the movie has a knowingly campy vibe, as exemplified by Jean-Claude Van Damme’s lead performance (that hair!) and Raul Julia, in his last role, as the hammy villain. Its visual effects, mostly of the old school variety, have aged much better than “Mortal Kombat’s” janky computer graphics too.
4. ‘Need for Speed’ (2014)
DreamWorks/Disney
Weirdly overlooked, “Need for Speed” entered the marketplace as an earnest alternative for the “Fast and the Furious” films. Sadly, it never got the chance to be a franchise, instead getting stuck as a fascinating one-off. Aaron Paul leads a surprisingly starry cast (including Rami Malek, Imogen Poots, Michael Keaton and, er, Kid Cudi) in what is a fairly standard “guy gets out of prison and seeks revenge” movie but gussied up with really terrific car chases/crashes. (The original videogame is a classic driving arcade game.) Director Scott Waugh is a former stuntman and insisted almost all of the stunts be staged for real, and the result is a thrillingly authentic joyride that, while it might not be the most original movie ever made, is certainly one of the more exciting in recent memory. Seriously. Take a look.
3. ‘Silent Hill’ (2006)
Davis Films
It’s actually scary! “Silent Hill,” the moody horror survival game by Konami, gets the big screen treatment courtesy of French auteur Christophe Gans and “Pulp Fiction” co-writer Roger Avary, and it’s actually pretty spooky. Gans smartly places a very human drama at the center of all of the supernatural weirdness, allowing the audience to emotionally connect with something before piling on all of the ghoulish nuns and pyramid-headed monsters. The result is arguably the most visually striking videogame adaptation of all time; it sometimes hits some snags in the narrative but Gans and his collaborators are very committed to maintaining and translating the essential tone and atmosphere of the original game, while adding some much-needed cinematic flourishes. Of all the videogame adaptations on the list, this one really goes there.
2. ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’ (2007)
Screen Gems
There have been so many “Resident Evil” movies, each with a subtitle more interchangeable than the next, so it’s understandable if you can’t exactly remember which one “Resident Evil: Extinction” is. So let me help you out: it’s the third movie and the one set largely in Las Vegas, which has a distinctly dusty post-apocalyptic vibe that’s different than most of the latter, clearly-shot-in-a-dingy-warehouse-in-Bulgaria installments. It also has some genuinely nifty, heady action set pieces orchestrated with much aplomb (nothing beats a flock of zombie crows getting lit on fire), thanks largely to Australian auteur Russell Mulcahy. Even if you haven’t seen the previous movies (or the latter ones), “Resident Evil: Extinction” is a stylish, energetic blast, a movie that proudly wears its videogame inspiration on its sleeve while pushing things forward in fun and unique ways.
1. ‘Pokémon: Detective Pikachu’ (2018)
Legendary/Warner Bros
While it’s certainly not a high bar to clear, “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” is easily the greatest videogame adaptation of all time. And the reasons for this are simple. It takes the central premise of the videogame and card series, set in a world in which humans capture and “battle” adorable little monsters, and smartly expands it, deepening the emotional stakes (a young man, who has no Pokémon sidekick, teams up with Pikachu to investigate the disappearance of his father) and establishing a gorgeously realized, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”-esque futuristic city where humans and Pokémon live side-by-side. Sure, the detective story trappings don’t have anywhere to go and it could have used some inspired, Joe Dante-style mayhem, but in terms of adapting what is essentially a point-and-click RPG into something even remotely resembling rousing entertainment is a feat in and of itself. And the creatures, which have a tactile believability, give off 1980s Jim Henson vibes, they’re so lifelike and seamless. If this is as good as videogame adaptations get, well, it’s pretty damn good.
Ryan Reynolds has once again shown off his master trolling skills by “leaking” the full movie of “Detective Pikachu” on YouTube.
Except, of course, it’s a total fake — an elaborate marketing stunt for the Pokémon movie, which opens in theaters this weekend.
Reynolds tweeted an alert to Warner Bros. calling out the “pirated” copy of the film on YouTube. The video starts with a minute of what looks like the actual opening sequence, then is followed by 102 minutes of Pikachu dancing to ’80s music:
The “full movie” already has more than 5.7 million views. In a nice touch, there is an “R. Reynolds” watermark in the corner of the video, as if Reynolds, who voices the titular character, uploaded a screener himself:
Reynolds has been very active in promoting “Detective Pikachu,” including taping a fake “Inside the Actor’s Studio” bit about his method acting process for the movie:
While there isn’t much new footage here, the trailer provides a few more glimpses of the mystery/adventure. The titular private eye teams up with his former human partner’s son, Tim Goodman (Justice Smith), to find the missing detective.
They team up to chase clues through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City, a sprawling metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side. Along the way, they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy the whole Pokémon universe.
The new trailer does seem to confirm the presence of the villainous Mewtoo, the powerful psychic Pokemon. It’s a nice nostalgic callback to 1998’s “Pokemon: The First Movie,” which featured Mewtoo as the big bad.
Reynolds posted the video Monday, a day ahead of the official trailer’s release. It is a mini mockumentary called “Becoming Pikachu” that reveals the lengths Reynolds supposedly went to for his voice and motion capture role. He describes how he “spent the entire year as Detective Pikachu,” even when it meant leaving his two young daughters and wife behind.
“I immersed myself completely within the world of Pokemon,” Reynolds says. “I read about him; I live at his height; I tried to lose 182 pounds to match his weight until doctors intervened.”
The video also includes a cameo from Reynolds’s wife, actress Blake Lively, who makes it clear that she’s less than enthused about her husband’s approach to acting. Watch below.
“Pokémon: Detective Pikachu” is directed by Rob Letterman. The film hits theaters May 10.
“Detective Pikachu” is ready for the next case. A sequel to the Pokemon-based movie is already in the works, months before its May 10 opening.
Producer Legendary Pictures has hired Oren Uziel to write the sequel’s script. The move is a vote of confidence in the film’s potential box office reception. Details about the sequel’s direction or plot are unknown.
In the video and card game, Pokemon are cute, powerful monsters that are collected by player trainers and used in battle tournaments.
Pikachu is a species of Pokemon, and Detective Pikachu an investigator good at finding things.
Ryan Reynolds voices Detective Pikachu in the movie (and provided facial expressions in motion capture). Justice Smith plays former Pokemon trainer who teams up with the Detective and is the only person capable of hearing him speak.
Ryan Reynolds doing his Deadpool schtick as the voice of Pikachu is what we need and deserve on a Monday.
Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” today, and fans are in for a treat. The highly-anticipated movie, directed by Rob Letterman (“Goosebumps”) finally brings the little yellow guy to the big screen in live-action form. He joins actor Justice Smith, who plays Tim — the son of an ace detective who has gone missing and it’s up to Tim and his fuzzy, adorable Pokémon to find him in a world where Pokémon and humans co-exist. (Sort of like how ‘toons and humans lived together in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”)
Ken Watanabe also co-stars. Check out the trailer below.
The beloved animated series, which concerned twins (Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal) who spend a summer with their cantankerous, tourist trap-operating great uncle, concluded its two-season, 40-episode run on February 15, 2016. But interest in the show has only grown since it left the air; it’s hard to not think of “Gravity Falls” (and the fandom that surrounds it) as anything short of a phenomenon.
And this week sees two posthumous treats hit store shelves — the first is a graphic novel, “Gravity Falls: Lost Legends,” written by the show’s creator, Alex Hirsch. Also releasing this week, against all odds, is a deluxe complete series box set, featuring every episode from the series, plus the short films, documentaries, deleted scenes and commentary tracks. It’s a “Gravity Falls” fan’s nirvana. What makes the release even more astounding is that Disney didn’t even release it. Instead, it comes from our friends at Shout Factory, who put out the best home video releases around.
We were lucky enough to chat with Hirsch before he left for Comic-Con to sign copies of the box set, and talked about how this release came together, whether or not he wishes he had done more episodes, and what is going on with some of the projects that he’s been linked to in the press.
Disney
Moviefone: Last time we spoke was right before the show ended. And even back then, you’d said how you wanted a deluxe box set of the series to come out. How did this box set come about, especially since Disney isn’t actually releasing it?
Hirsch: Mickey Mouse works in mysterious ways. I’ve been lobbying on behalf of the fans for a full DVD collection ever since the show ended and it’s been a continued drumbeat. I’ll shoot an email every now and again to Disney. “How ’bout now?” “How ’bout now?” And I do think persistence is key. Also key was the fact that Shout Factory contacted us. They do fantastic work. They have a passion for DVDs, particularly DVDs for collectors. These are DVDs with all the bells and whistles and goodies. I think between their excitement and my annoying persistence, Disney finally relented.
In the documentary that’s included in the box set, you go into detail about how much stuff you accumulated throughout the run of the show. Did you get everything you wanted onto the disc?
I’m very proud and satisfied with the DVD we were able to put together. As somebody who loves to watch DVDs and learn behind-the-scenes tidbits from my favorite shows, I never feel like I get enough. But we were able to get most of the crew back to do interviews, we were able to do commentary on every single episode. And I feel really good about what we were able to put together.
Disney/Shout Factory
One of the great things about this set is that you get to highlight so many of the talented people that worked on the show. Was that part of your mission, too?
Absolutely. When you’re the creator of something like a show, your name is at the beginning in the opening credits. So you tend to get all the attention, which means you get more praise and more blame than you deserve. But there is a massive crew of incredibly hardworking, talented people, and without them the show would have been impossible. Thanks to the DVD and the documentary and the work of Shout Factory, we were able to shed some light on so many amazing people behind-the-scenes, both in interviews and in the commentary. Many of the “Gravity Falls” alumni have gone on and are currently going on to doing amazing things. Both Dana Terrace and Matt Braly and Chris Houghton have either new shows in development or on the air. Mike Rianda is directing an awesome movie at Sony. There’s so much talent in that room, and it’s just beginning to spread out into the industry, and show everyone what I already knew, which was that our crew was amazing.
There’s also a “Gravity Falls” graphic novel coming out next week. When you ended the show, it seemed like that was for you. Has it been fun to reengage with the fan community and produce new material from that world?
Well, we live in an age of instant nostalgia. Five minutes after lunch we start looking at Instagram photos of your lunch, thinking about what a great meal it was. It used to be that you’d wait ten years before having a reunion or a collection DVD. Now, the turnaround is about two years to feel nostalgic about something that just ended. But my feeling about the fan community is, I continue to be impressed by the amount of passion in the fan community. And because of streaming services like Hulu, where “Gravity Falls” is currently watchable and it still reruns on the channel to great ratings, and thanks to the DVD people continue to rediscover it.
It’s not like the old days when a show was over and it receded into the void. People continue to rediscover the show or discover it for the first time. And the engagement is so strong. I have many different projects I’m working on but because that audience remains around and remains hungry, I’m always looking for little scraps I can feed them to reward them for that attention. This DVD was a passion project — exclusively for the fans — and the comic was a little gift, a way of saying thank you for continuing to be fans and creating new fans.
Disney
The release of “Journal 3” was a huge blockbuster for Disney Publishing. Does it surprise you at all that people are still snapping this stuff up?
I’m always surprised that it continues to generate so much passion – and grateful! “Journal 3” took everyone a bit by surprise. It was such a huge hit for Disney Publishing and on the New York Times bestseller list for so many months. Publishing has been a great partner and would publish as much “Gravity Falls”-related content as I was available to create for them. Unfortunately, my schedule only allows for little things here and there. It’s one of these things where, if there are products and side projects that are created now and then that don’t impugn the integrity of the series itself or too much of my time or my current projects, I’m happy to do it when I’m available.
You told me one time that if the show had been on the air for five years, there’d be a Mystery Shack at Disneyland. Is there any part of you that wishes you had stretched it out a little bit more?
There is zero percent of me that wishes I had gone on longer with the show itself. I completed the project as I intended and I was able to fulfill my vision, which is something that the vast majority of shows in television history do not get to do. They do not get to complete the story on their own terms and I have zero regrets about that. But I still love this world and I still love these characters. And just for clarity, making a television show is a life-consuming endeavor. There is no comparison between the amount of life it sucks to make a 20 episode season of television versus the little bit of time it takes to make a book here or a comic there. These are essentially side projects. Every now and then, I’ll get a tweet like, “You made a comic, why don’t you make another season?” That’s sort of like saying, “You made a brick, why don’t you make 80 pyramids?” There’s no comparison.
Well, part of what makes the box set so eye opening is seeing how much work you dedicated to this show.
Animation is a very mysterious process. It’s this strange art form where you essentially being Dr. Frankenstein where you’re taking inert scraps of matter and shocking them into life using black magic. It’s very hard for people to understand the steps and stages that it takes to create animation because with live action, anybody could shoot a video with their phone in five seconds and say, “Oh I get it. I know how movies are made.” But animation – writing, storyboarding, drawing things frame-by-frame, it’s a very mysterious process and it’s hard for most fans to understand what goes into it. But I’m grateful for it. Even though it would be the bane of my existence until the day I die, I’m sure I’ll get letters and tweets that will say, “Hey, when is season 3 coming out?” I always see that as a sign of a job well done. I think it’s better leaving people wanting more than the alternative.
Speaking of “more,” in 2016 it was announced you were developing a prime time animated series for Fox.
It’s so interesting because when I first started working in television, I would have conversations with one studio, I’d have conversations with another studio. It was just business. Now, if I have a talk with somebody, I will read an article about it and it will suddenly be like, “Hey everyone now Alex is doing this!” Particularly in the movie business, every little motion can turn into its own report and spin into a reality that is not indicative of any actual reality. For example, the Fox thing… there is no Fox show. That is not a real thing. I’d had some conversations with people at Fox, on the heels of “Gravity Falls,” with people who had an interest in working with me. And I expressed an interest in working with them. But it was just talk.
I’d never even pitched them a show. It immediately turned into a big report. And I had been talking with them. But, ultimately, I got sucked into movies and have been working in a number of capacities on a number of different movies. The stuff I have been the most involved with, which has been the primary stuff, has not been announced or mentioned online because it’s top secret and I’m not allowed to talk about it. The stuff that’s real, I can’t comment on and the stuff that’s not real, I can debunk when it pops up. But features are such a different business. There are many people involved, high stakes, giant contracts and non-disclosure agreements. So it’s a completely beast.
Nintendo
Well one of the features you were tied to was the “Detective Pikachu” movie.
That’s another thing that was blown out of proportions. I’d had initial conversations with their team about potential story directions, but ultimately we both went in different directions and I did not write on the “Detective Pikachu” movie. I didn’t write a single page of that script. So, it’s one of those things where you get a phone call that’s like, “Hey, have any interest in working with Pikachu?” And you say, “Well, I’ll check it out.” But ultimately it wasn’t the right fit for either of us. But I believe the credits to that movie has been announced and there are like 12 credit writers and none of them are me!
So what is your relationship with Disney these days?
Asking someone what their relationship with Disney is, is almost like asking them what their relationship is with the western hemisphere. It’s such a massive company, spanning so many sub-companies and so many departments, that to try to make a monolith of it and talk about it like a friend we all know and talk about it like a relationship doesn’t make sense. I will say that my relationship with Disney Publishing is phenomenal. They’ve been the best partner I can imagine in terms of creating books based on the series. They understand the tone of the show and really respect the artists and the intention of the creators and it’s been a dream working with them. Currently, Disney Television Animation — obviously I’m not making anything with them anymore — but I have a number of friends who are working over there and I’m very excited for them. But I’m working on different things in different places right now, things I cannot comment on. Features are very slow and move in their own way, so hopefully I’ll be able to give more information soon.
Well, one of the more famous stories about you, coming up in the industry, is that you gave up a job at Pixar. It was very rebellious, at the time. Would you ever want to go back and do something there?
I’ll say this: the animation industry is a small business and I have friends working at every studio, doing cool projects at every studio. I think there’s never been a better time to be a creator in animation right now, because there are more networks or studios, more content more hunger. And it creates amazing opportunities. I’m deep in a particular project right now but there’s no way to say where I might or might not work in the future. There are great options everywhere.
“Gravity Falls: The Complete Series” box set is on DVD and Blu-ray from Shout Factory and it’s one of the very best home video releases of the year.
The “Detective Pikachu” movie is reportedly finding a new home. According to The Hollywood Reporter , the film is switching distributors from Universal Pictures to Warner Bros., with Warners taking a stake in the first live-action Pokemon movie.
This move is said to be the first step in a larger shift as production company Legendary Entertainment severs ties with Universal. Legendary originally had a distribution deal with WB until signing a four-year deal with Universal in 2013. THR indicates that new Legendary head Josh Grode is intent on finding a new distribution partner and that WB is the top candidate.
According to THR, Legendary and Universal are parting ways after a string of box office disappointments, culminating in this year’s “Skyscraper.” Assuming this split does take place, it’s expected that “BlacKkKlansman” will be the final Legendary film distributed by Universal.
This studio shift isn’t expected to impact “Detective Pikachu’s” scheduled May 10, 2019 release date.
