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He and his two elementary school-aged sons had spent countless hours playing the trading card version of the game.
Thats when Boyter had his epiphany.
The American representatives who fielded the call were cordial but unhelpful.
It was content churning out exclusively animated film fare like 1999sPokemon: The Movie 2000.
How did the filmmakers secure the rights to a live-actionPokemonmovie seemingly no one else was able to get?
They settled on the rights to a then-little known franchise spin-off instead:Pokemon: Detective Pikachu.
After that first phone call, Boyter had no idea the noir turns his tale was about to take.
At one point in early 2016, a deal at Paramount seemed nigh.
Unfortunately, the the timing wasnt right.
(Executives at the Pokemon Company did not respond to Vultures request for comment.)
Around the same time, they discovered another ace up their sleeve.
Instead, he asked the producers to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
They travel through Ryme City, where a drug called R is wreaking havoc on the Pokemon population.
They really care, even down to the species.
Translators worked overtime to bridge the English-Japanese divide.
Principal photography took place in Denver, Colorado and London, England.
Despitea fan petitionto get Danny DeVito to voice the yellow protagonist, Ryan Reynolds handily bagged the leading role.
In the end, were the years of harassment and development frustration worth it?
So farDetective Pikachuis logging a decent 71 percent fresh onRotten Tomatoes.
In that case, the producers may have played their battle right.
Jackson McHenry contributed additional reporting to this story.
*This article has been corrected to reflect the correct number of credited Detective Pikachu screenwriters.
