Pokemon

Happy Pokémon Day!

You‘ll have to catch them all (the episodes, that is).

Gotta catch them all (on streaming).

Is that Charizard?!?

Ryan Reynolds is adding another quirky note to the delightfully bizarre timeline of his career, which is already punctuated with a strange collection of notable characters like Van Wilder, Green Lantern, and Deadpool — the latter of which has helped us forget all about the first two (until now, I am so sorry). The actor is trading in his mercenary spandex and seemingly infinite mental Rolodex of profanity for a Pokeball and some decidedly family-friendly language in Detective Pikachu.

Kathryn Newton, who played Reese Witherspoon’s precocious daughter in Big Little Lies, will star opposite Justice Smith.

For those of us still playing Pokemon Go (me) or excited about the new Sun and Moon games, or just big fans of Pokemon in general, Legendary’s “live action” Detective Pikachu movie has its director. Rob Letterman, who headed last year’s Goosebumps movie, will helm the project, which has been fast-tracked for a 2017 production start.

Ah, the Pokémon franchise. It seems like only yesterday that millions of people were wandering the streets of their hometowns, eyes locked to their smartphone screens as they flung Pokeballs at imaginary creatures hovering over local businesses. The Pokémon Go craze, with its innovative use of technology and beloved cartoon characters, brought the popular animated series back into the public spotlight. And with news that Legendary Pictures would shoot a new live-action Pokémon movie in 2017, it was only a matter of time before some of the original films found their way back into theaters.

Not that the Republican National Convention lacked for its own special breed of entertainment night after night, but the political arena at least managed to bring SNL out of summer break early. Watch Colin Jost and Michael Che bring Weekend Update to Cleveland with the requisite Pokémon GO sketch you never wanted, plus bonus Kate McKinnon!

You may be thinking, “But there’s already a live-action Pokemon. It’s called Pokemon GO and it makes me take my dog on extra walks!” Yes, yes, but just in case your personal, semi-live-action experience with the latest app craze isn’t enough, those long-developing plans for a new Pokemon movie have gotten a little more developed as Legendary is making a push to secure rights to the hit game franchise.