Oscar Nominee Ken Watanabe Joins 'Detective Pikachu' Cast as Detective Yoshida

By Vianne Ilagan, Christian Post Contributor Monday, January 22, 2018

Production on "Detective Pikachu" has already started this month, but its cast continues to grow. Last weekend, it was confirmed that Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe is joining the cast of Legendary's next outing, and he is taking on the role of a brand new character who was created just for this film.

"Detective Pikachu" is based on the hit video game franchise of the same name and centers on a character named Tim Goodman. In the film, Watanabe will play a detective named Yoshida. While Legendary has not yet offered any detail about who this Detective Yoshida is, fans can expect him to play a big part in the upcoming film.

Watanabe, who is also slated to appear in "Godzilla: King of Monsters," joins Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith in the "Detective Pikachu" cast, where Reynolds will voice the iconic character Pikachu while Smith will voice Tim Goodman. Recently, "Big Little Lies" star Kathryn Newton was also confirmed to play the female lead Lucy, a sassy journalist who will join Reynolds and Smith's characters in their mission to find Tim Goodman's missing father. Being a detective, it's possible that Watanabe's Detective Yoshida will also help Tim Goodman and Detective Pikachu in their search.

Back in October, it was revealed that production for "Detective Pikachu" would begin this month in London. It remains to be seen how many roles still need to be filled in the film's cast, but with Watanabe's recent casting, fans can expect more casting announcements in the coming weeks.

Directed by Rob Letterman and written by Nicole Perlman and Alex Hirsch, "Detective Pikachu" is the first live-action film based on the "Pokemon" franchise. Legendary has set a May 10, 2019 release date for the film, which means it will go up against TriStar's "The Rosie Project" and STX Entertainment's "Uglydolls" at the box office.