The film stars Ryan Reynolds as the voice and facial motion capture of Pikachu, with Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Suki Waterhouse, Omar Chaparro, Chris Geere, Ken Watanabe, and Bill Nighy in live-action roles.

Detective Pikachu was released in Japan on May 3, 2019[8][9] and in the United States on May 10, 2019, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, 4DX, and ScreenX formats.

Howard reveals that Harry was abducted by a genetically engineered Pokémon called Mewtwo, who erased Pikachu's memory of the incident.

Howard uses a device to transfer his consciousness into Mewtwo, unleashes the gas on the city from parade balloons and starts fusing humans with Pokémon, including Lucy and Yoshida.

As Howard is arrested, Roger vows to undo his father's misdeeds and tasks Lucy with spearheading the media coverage.

[19] On August 16, 2016, Nicole Perlman and Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch were in negotiations with Legendary to write the screenplay.

[20] Later revisions were provided by Eric Pearson, Thomas McCarthy, Derek Connolly, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit and Letterman.

[24] Other actors considered for the role of Pikachu were Danny DeVito, Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg and Hugh Jackman.

[25][26][27] In January 2018, with production commencing, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy and Chris Geere joined the cast,[28][29] followed by Suki Waterhouse and Rita Ora in February[30][31] and Omar Chaparro in April.

[40] The film's visual effects were provided by the Moving Picture Company (MPC), Framestore, Image Engine, Rodeo FX, and Instinctual VFX.

[44] Honest Boyz also collaborated with Lil Uzi Vert to make another song for the film, titled "Electricity" and produced by Pharrell Williams,[45] which also plays over the end credits.

[56] On May 7, 2019, a Warner Bros. YouTube channel named "Inspector Pikachu" uploaded a video purporting to be a bootleg recording of the film.

Spanning nearly 1.75 hours in length, the opening minute shows the production logo sequences followed by a scene from the film featuring Tim Goodman, before spending the remainder of its runtime depicting Pikachu performing aerobics to an upbeat, 1980s-inspired synthwave tune.

Reynolds aided in the prank, posting on Twitter as if he was alerting Warner Bros. and the film's official accounts about the alleged bootleg.

Along with TCG booster pack sets, they produced a limited edition Detective Pikachu Cafe Figure Collection bundle.

[66] On July 25, 2018, Warner Bros. announced they had taken over worldwide distribution duties (except in Japan and China) from Universal, with the release date unchanged.

[70] On March 20, 2019, it was confirmed that Marie Iitoyo would voice Lucy Stevens and Ken Watanabe would reprise his role as Detective Yoshida, in the Japanese dub.

[73] Detective Pikachu released shortly after on May 8, 2019, in Europe May 9, 2019, in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia, and May 10, 2019, in China, UK, Ireland, Canada, and the US, in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and ScreenX formats.

[74] The film debuted at the DVD and Blu-ray charts upon the week of its release,[75] and was the second top-selling home video title in August 2019 (after Avengers: Endgame).

[5] In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Tolkien, Poms and The Hustle, and was projected to gross $50–70 million from 4,202 theaters.

[86] Prior to its worldwide release, the film grossed $21 million from openings and previews in several international markets, including Japan, through Thursday.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Pokémon Detective Pikachu may not take its wonderfully bizarre premise as far as it could have, but this offbeat adaptation should catch most – if not all – of the franchise's fans.

It's a real film, rooted in character arcs and narrative twists with just enough raw emotion and personal stakes to make the significant special effects moments matter beyond spectacle.

"[104] CNET's Sean Keane called it the best film ever based on a video game, saying it achieves the balance of appealing to existing fans as well as potential new audiences.

"[105] Simran Hans of The Observer gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "What's clever is the way this live-action spinoff exploits nostalgia for the family-friendly blockbusters of the late 1980s and the 1990s... rather than the Japanese "Pocket Monsters" themselves.

"[106] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen said, "Although the script ... tends to compartmentalize the comedy, action and emotional bits rather than organically blending them all together, Letterman's energetic direction manages to hold everything aloft.

"[107] Alonso Duralde's mixed review for TheWrap describes the film as feeling "both ambitious and lazy, frenzied and sluggish".

[109] Kate Erbland of Indiewire gave the film a mixed review, praising the "awe-inspiring" visuals but criticizing the messy plot, saying that "no amount of technical polish can detract from a thin narrative that confuses far more than it amuses", and complaining that many of the best jokes were in the trailer.

[110] In January 2019, months ahead of the release of Detective Pikachu, Legendary Entertainment announced that a sequel was already in development, with Oren Uziel signed on as screenwriter.