It’s been over a year since Pokémon: Detective Pikachu hit theaters. It’s currently the highest-rated video game movie of all-time and is probably going to be the second most successful film…behind Sonic the Hedgehog. But was it actually successful enough to warrant more movies? Yes, back in January of 2019, it was confirmed that a film was in development, but since then, we’ve heard nothing.

“I wish somebody would tell me something,” star Smith recently told Coming Soon about the state of the sequel in an interview. “I have no idea, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

“He’s being secretive,” Fanning joked.

“No, I promise! I wish, I wish I knew,” Smith doubled down.

Usually, if a movie did well enough to warrant a sequel, we’d at least be hearing of some progress, especially when it comes to a franchise like Pokémon. So, what’s the status of this movie?

Detective Pikachu’s Box Office

Well, let’s take a look at Pokémon: Detective Pikachu at the box office. The movie itself cost $150 million to make. While we don’t know for sure, a lot of larger movies can cost a pretty penny to make. So let’s peg it at around $100 million for the sake of having a solid figure to work with. The movie made just over $430 million worldwide. On the surface, that’s well above the $250 million or so to put the movie out, but we can’t forget about the cut the theaters take.

When taking that into account, the movie likely made closer to $285 million. This is assuming the final average cut from the theaters (taking into account the small cut they take upfront and the larger cut they take as the movie continues to play) is around 66%. So, when all said and done, we’re looking at $35 million in profits.

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Admittedly, that’s also assuming they didn’t break $100 million, so their profits could be even smaller than that. If they really broke the bank, they could have even turned a small loss, which isn’t ideal for a franchise that is literally the biggest I.P. in existence.

So, what does this mean? Is a sequel out of the question? Admittedly, it’s hard to say. While the movie likely made money, I don’t think it did nearly as well as anyone was hoping, and the prospect of another film would be quite the risky undertaking, especially if box office receipts don’t go up for this second outing. While I have nothing to back this up, I could imagine either this being put on the back burner or them actively trying to figure out a story they could tell on a much smaller budget — and that can take time.

What do you think of prospects for a Pokémon: Detective Pikachu sequel? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Coming Soon