The Pokemon Company announced a new anime film titled Pokemon: Wildcard during the Pokemon World Championships 2026 in San Francisco on Monday. The announcement revealed the main staff, a key visual, and a promotional video. This is the first new Pokemon film in seven years, with a planned premiere in 2027.
Staff
Kitada Katsuhiko, known for his work as an episode director on The First Slam Dunk, is directing the film at CloverWorks. Hayashi Akemi, who worked on Lazarus, is handling character design. STORY inc. is in charge of planning and production.
The film will incorporate the Pokemon Trading Card Game, with the Pokemon Mimikyu playing an important role.
Franchise History
The Pokemon franchise began releasing movies in 1998 with Pokemon Movie 01: Mewtwo no Gyakushuu (Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back). The most recent film, Pokemon Movie 23: Koko (Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle), premiered in December 2020. The latest television anime, Pokemon (2023) (Pokémon Horizons: The Series), started in April 2023.
Source: Oricon News
Official site: https://www.pokemon.co.jp/ex/wildcard/
Official X: @pokemoncard_mov
