Screenwriter Max Landis gave a Pokemon movie pitch last year, drew “huge Netflix offer”

We learned yesterday that Legendary Entertainment has obtained the rights to the Pokemon films, and will begin by producing a live-action Detective Pikachu film. Based on a new interview with screenwriter Max Landis, it sounds like that idea came straight from The Pokemon Company.

Landis, along with producer Roy Lee, pitched his idea for a different Pokemon film around a year ago. It was accepted, shown to studios (and led to a “huge Netflix offer”)… and then The Pokemon Company “pulled back”. Landis told Collider that they only wanted to sell one character, which was Detective Pikachu. He wasn’t interested, and that’s when everything fell apart.

You can hear about Landis’ pitch in the video below.