Rob Letterman has signed on to direct the upcoming live-action Pokemon film “Detective Pikachu,” Legendary Entertainment announced Wednesday.
Nicole Perlman and Alex Hirsch wrote the script about Detective Pikachu, who is a new character in the world of Pokémon.
Letterman’s past projects include “Monsters Vs. Aliens,” “Goosebumps” and “Shark Tale.” He is repped by WME.
Legendary’s distribution partner, Universal Pictures, will release the live-action film outside Japan.
The Pokémon Company’s long-time movie collaborator, Toho, will distribute the film in Japan, as it had done in partnership with Legendary on the recent “Godzilla” reboot.
Pokémon was first introduced in Japan in 1996 and gained world fame more recently with the popular Pokémon Go mobile game.
There have been more than 279 million Pokémon video games sold worldwide and an animated series that has spanned 20 seasons.