Live Action ‘Pokemon Red and Blue’ Movie Allegedly in the Works

Legendary Entertainment is allegedly working on another live-action movie, this time based on the original Pokemon games.

We Got This Covered, which has published multiple rumors about the future of Pokemon’s live-action franchise, is now claiming that Legendary is working on a live-action movie based on Pokemon Red & Blue, the first Pokemon video games. The rumor, which comes from one of the site’s “trusted sources,” says that the movie will be set in the same universe as Detective Pikachu but will focus on the story that first introduced players to the world of Pokemon back in the late 1990s.

The rumor is interesting for a few different reasons. If We Got This Covered is correct, it means that Legendary is developing multiple live action Pokemon movies with plans for a “Pokemon Cinematic Universe,” each with their own unique flavor. Detective Pikachu obviously has a whimsical and humorous slant, while the supposed Mewtwo movie would likely have darker overtones. If a Pokemon Red and Blue movie is actually in the works, it would likely be a straightforward adventure movie pitting a protagonist against Team Rocket.

But the issue with this rumor is that Pokemon Red and Blue doesn’t exactly lend itself to a movie format. None of the main series Pokemon games have strong plots, especially the earliest games. While Legendary probably won’t produce a movie about grinding through Mount Moon in an attempt to level up your Squirtle, the only real plot that Pokemon Red and Blue has is the fight against Team Rocket.

Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee recently updated the Team Rocket storyline to give it a little more meat, but the games are mostly about traveling from city to city and stopping Team Rocket’s generic moneymaking and Pokemon exploitation schemes before they start. Plus, a Pokemon Red and Blue movie would be even more boring if they pulled Mewtwo into its own movie…unless Legendary Pictures wants to produce three movies focused on the Legendary Pokemon.

We’re obviously skeptical about this rumor, but it’s clear that Legendary Pictures has high hopes for Detective Pikachu, which comes out on May 10th. The success of Detective Pikachu might determine whether any of these other alleged Pokemon movie projects ever see the light of day.