Marketing

In early November 2018, with the film in the post-production phase, a screen test was held for an incomplete version of the film, Detective Pikachu, which drew positive reactions from the test audience. 

 

The Pokémon Company announced it would be releasing a whole new line of products tied to the movie, including new card games, apparel, toys, and more, all scheduled to come out about a month before the movie hit theaters. Legendary, confident that the movie would be a hit, put a sequel in development in January, three months before the first one came out. On March 15, 2019, it was revealed that Legendary will also release a graphic novel based on the film.

Beginning in mid-February, Warner Bros. started running paid ads including a TV spot that showed the basic premise outlined in the trailer. Nintendo also announced two new games, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, in late February as part of the overall renewed push around the franchise.

 

While the movie itself wasn’t at SXSW (South By Southwest) in March, Warner Bros did place posters for it there that featured a Snapchat code that, when scanned by users with the app, unlocked an Augmented reality (AR) experience featuring the main character.

The studio sponsored Neon Carnival, the super-exclusive party hosted by Brent Bolthouse, in April, bringing the stars of the movie as well as signage and live-action Pikachu for people to be photographed with.

On November 30, 2018, Letterman, Smith, and Newton appeared on stage during the Tokyo Comic-Con event.

AMC Theaters hosted advance screenings the week before release to help generate some word of mouth among audiences. This happened around the same time the studio promoted the movie’s New York City premiere with a series of social updates following Pikachu’s trip to the red carpet. More Pokémon hijinks were on display in an extended commercial a week before the movie was in theaters that didn’t feature much of the story but did include lots of jokes about Pikachu’s addiction to caffeine, signaling the studio felt the humor was a key selling point for audiences. Overall, the film was supported by a $100 million marketing budget.