Four more theatrical movies followed in the United States between 2000 and 2003, and every Pokemon movie released since then has been direct-to-video in the U.S. This project, however, is surely the franchise’s biggest cinematic endeavor yet, and considering the resurgence in Pokemon’s popularity, it’s no wonder Legendary is seizing the opportunity to release this sometime in the near future.
Pokemon: The First Movie was released in the United States in 1999, and saw the anime characters encountering Mewtwo and Mew.
Although Detective Pikachu will mark the first time that Pokemon receives live action theatrical attention, it is by no means the franchise’s first movie.