Jul 22, 2016 10:55 AM EDT By Sarene Mae Butao, UniversityHerald Reporter

"Pokémon Go" is a big hit this year and Legendary Entertainment is bound to make a "Pokémon" live action movie after partnering with The Pokémon Company.

Legendary Entertainment won the bid for the rights to make a "Pokémon" movie. They have partnered with The Pokémon Company to launch a film franchise of a live action "Pokémon" film. The first movie to be launched would be "Detective Pikachu" and the movie will be fast-tracked so that it will begin production in 2017. It would be good to ride on the popularity of the game, "Pokémon Go", Variety reported.

In April this year, rumors spread that there is an on-going bidding battle for a "Pokémon" movie rights. Two companies, Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. have been bidding for the rights. The company to acquire the rights is the Legendary Entertainment which is owned by a Chinese entertainment company, Wanda Group who acquired the company just this year in January.

The Pokémon Company of Japan, on one hand, was allegedly pitching for Hollywood to produce an expensive live-action film for "Pokémon".

 The live action film that the company will produce will star Detective Pikachu. There are still doubts if this movie will have any connection to the video game, "Detective Pikachu", which was launched earlier this year in Japan.

The deal between The Pokémon Company and Legendary Films comes only two weeks after the famous mobile app, "Pokémon Go" was released and became a hit all around the world. The game led to a 25% increase in Nintendo's income. The game allows players to battle and catch virtual Pokémon in the real world using their smartphones, Gamespot reported.

The first introduction of Pokémon was in 1996 in Japan. The animated series spanned 19 seasons and sold 279 million video games worldwide. It also shipped 21.5 billion cards to 74 countries worldwide.

This project, "Detective Pikachu" is the third major project since Wanda acquired legendary Entertainment after "Bad Blood" and "the Birth of a Nation".

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