The upcoming live-action Pokemon movie Detective Pikachu has its first confirmed cast member. It has been reported by Variety that Justice Smith, best known for the Netflix musical drama The Get Down, will star in the film.

Smith received much acclaim for his role in The Get Down, where he played the teenage lead, Ezekiel "Zeke" Figueroa. Although it wasn’t picked up for a second season, Smith followed the show with a role in next summer’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Detective Pikachu is to be directed by Goosebumps‘ Rob Letterman, with a screenplay from Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls). Production on the movie is currently scheduled to begin in London in January. Last month, it was reported that big names were being considered to voice Pikachu, including Hugh Jackman, Mark Wahlberg, Ryan Reynolds, and Dwayne Johnson.

Detective Pikachu will be based on the Japanese video game Great Detective Pikachu, in which the Pokemon character features as a master detective. Imagine Sherlock Holmes but with Pikachu. Unlike the character’s primary appearances in Pokemon games, the detective version of Pikachu speaks, which explains why producers are considering actors with such familiar voices.

No release date for Detective Pikachu has been announced. In the meantime, there’s plenty of new Pokemon Go content to keep fans of the series occupied. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were also just released.

Source: GameSpot