What was the first live-action Pokémon feature film released in cinemas?

Pokémon Detective Pikachu was the first live-action Pokémon feature film released in cinemas.

The film premiered in 2019 and was directed by Rob Letterman. It is based on the 2016 Nintendo 3DS game Detective Pikachu, in which a talking Pikachu helps solve mysteries. The movie follows Tim Goodman, who searches for his missing father with the help of a detective Pikachu voiced by Ryan Reynolds.

Unlike the traditional animated Pokémon films, the movie combines live-action human performers with digitally created Pokémon. Its world includes Pokémon living alongside people in the city of Ryme City, where battles are not the central focus of everyday life.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu is sometimes confused with Pokémon: The First Movie, which was the first Pokémon animated feature film, released in Japan in 1998. The 2019 movie was distributed by Warner Bros. outside Japan and China and became the first major theatrical production to present Pokémon characters in a live-action setting.