Pokémon fans across the country are ecstatic that a beloved Nintendo 3DS game, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” is being introduced to the cinematic world in May 2019.

Directed by Rob Letterman, “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is a movie unlike most. The upcoming movie’s official trailer was recently released and people are showing great interest. This is Letterman’s first animated movie since his directing of “Monsters vs. Aliens” in 2009.

The story features Detective Pikachu, voiced by Ryan Reynolds, and Tim, played by Justice Smith, embarking on an investigation to find Tim’s missing father, Harry Goodman. Tim is a 21-year-old who can uniquely communicate with Pokémon. He embraces the adventure through Ryme City, a metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side. On the quest, Tim and Pikachu encounter many different Pokémon characters and uncover a plot that could potentially destroy the entire Pokémon universe.

Nintendo franchises being made into live action movies does not happen often. As a matter of fact, this is only the second time in history that Nintendo has allowed this to happen. Instances in the past have deterred Nintendo from selling rights of their franchises to production agencies.

The only other franchise made into a movie was Super Mario. The movie was loosely based on the games, but it ended up being a commercial failure. Its lack of success is what spurred Nintendo to release information about its future protection of its other franchises… until now.

Casting directors have released information about Justice Smith being the first cast member confirmed for the upcoming movie. When playing in Paper Towns in 2015, Smith’s character sang the Pokémon theme song in a scene of the movie.

Nintendo has announced that the major success of the mobile game, Pokémon GO, is what influenced the company to ease up on their restrictive and protective behavior of their franchises. Niantic, the software company responsible for designing Pokémon GO, has stated that there have been over 750 million downloads of the game.

 Jennie Wilson, freshman, is still an avid Pokémon GO player, stating it is one of her favorite pastimes. “I love it. I’ve used it as a way to meet lots of different people, lots of different kinds of people that I wouldn’t normally approach. It’s a really good way to get outside. I play it while I walk my dog.”

 Following its announced future arrival, Pokémon fans immediately began petitioning for Pikachu to be voiced by famed actor Danny Devito. The petition did not prove to be successful. Ryan Reynolds has turned in his vulgar comedy and Deadpool suit for an animation character.

Interestingly enough, the voice over for large crowd chants that are featured intermittently throughout the film were recorded at the Pokémon World Championship of 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fans reach from coast to coast, but some pretty ecstatic ones reside right here in Topeka on Washburn’s campus.

Sarah Reineke, a freshman at Washburn, is both equally excited and surprised. Reineke is shocked that Nintendo would allow the production of the movie. She is also very excited that a franchise she is so passionate about will be featured in a movie, let alone a movie starring very prominent and famous actors and actresses.

“I extremely excited to see ‘Detective Pikachu,’ especially with Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu. I am surprised because as far as I know, this is the very first live action Pokémon movie.”

 Keep your eyes peeled, this live action movie is reported to be one of a kind.