'Pokemon: Detective Pikachu' Opening Box Office Numbers Hit $5.7M Thursday

Detective Pikachu earned an impressive $5.7 million on Thursday night in its first night in American box offices. The live action Pokemon movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith opened with ticket sales comparable to that of Shazam!, which eventually earned $53.5 million on its opening weekend. Detective Pikachu's preview night ticket sales also outpaced movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and How to Train Your Dragon 3. While not expected to beat Avengers: Endgame at the box office, Detective Pikachu is expected to have a strong opening weekend with tracking pointing towards a $60 million weekend. ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis shared on ComicBook.com's A Wild Podcast Has Appeared that he thought the movie would have a $50-$70 million weekend.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have high expectations for the Pokemon movie, as the studios hope that it will lead to a live action Pokemon franchise. Several Pokemon spin-off movies and sequels are allegedly in pre-development. Detective Pikachu has received mixed positive reviews and is currently sitting at a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. ComicBook.com's Megan Peters described the film as "wildly entertaining" and "makes a Pokemon world feel more real than ever before."

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is now out in theaters. Let us know what you thought about the movie in the comment section below or find me on Twitter at @CHofferCBus to chat all things Pokemon!

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Exciting news, Pokemon fans -- A Wild Podcast Has Appeared, the official Pokemon podcast of ComicBook.com, is here! Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

On today's episode, we talk about how playing too much Pokemon changes our brains as kids, the new Pokemon Unbroken Bonds Trading Card Game set, Detective Pikachu coming to Pokemon GO!, and more! Make sure to subscribe now to never miss an episode!