The film rights for the Pokemon franchise are allegedly close to being purchased by Legendary Entertainment, The Hollywood Reporter has detailed. According to the report, the company is attempting to "nudge aside" Warner Bros., who has been "aggressively" pursuing the rights to the Pokemon movies.

Legendary Entertainment was acquired in January this year by Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group. The rights to the Pokemon franchise are managed by Japanese company The Pokemon Co., who according to the report has been pitching for Hollywood to produce a big-budget, live-action take on the IP. If Legendary were to acquire the rights there could be "potential problems", given the current state of Chinese-Japanese political tensions.

Warner Bros. released Pokemon: The First Movie in 1999 to commercial success, and followed with Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (2000) and Pokemon 3: The Movie (2001).

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