Ryan Reynolds could well end up with a second major film franchise adapted from popular graphic characters.
The Deadpool star has signed on to top-line the live-action Detective Pikachu and will begin shooting next month, the Hollywood Reporter first reported.
The Legendary film, based on the video game-sprung multimedia juggernaut, already has director Rob Letterman (Goosebumps) and actors Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Kathryn Newton (Lady Bird) already in place, with Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls) and Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) handling the script.
Reynolds will play the title gumshoe who helps a boy find his father within this world of mighty Pokémon beasts. The film has a build-in global fan appeal, with Pokémon games having sold in the hundreds of millions and an animated series spanning two decades.
The move marks Reynolds's continued faith in projects based on bright visual characters. He began the decade with the infamous Green Lantern and the animated The Croods, right after 2009's misguided X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
