WIRE Buzz: Detective Pikachu 'leaks' online; Roland Emmerich readies for Moonfall; more

While online piracy remains a real problem for the entertainment industry, once in a while it can be used for something good.

Such is the case with the upcoming Detective Pikachu, which created its own "leaked" copy of the film and set it loose in the wilds of the internet, just days ahead of its theatrical release. The video is titled POKÉMON Detective Pikachu: Full Picture, and clocks in with a 106-minute runtime. So, at first glance, it seems like it could be a pirated copy of the film.

However, on closer examination, once you hit play, it's just 100+ minutes of Detective Pikachu getting down, Jane-Fonda-workout style.

It's very much worth checking out.

The video was posted on Twitter under the innocuous "@inspectrpikachu" account, which boasts a whopping 134 followers. Star Ryan Reynolds is, of course, in on the joke. Not only did he post the video himself while tagging Warner Bros. to call attention to the "leaked" copy, but it has his watermark on the video itself.

Obviously, this isn't a leaked copy of the film, but rather a very adept and meme-worthy marketing campaign (something Reynolds is very much used to). It even has that vintage, worn-down VHS quality to it. Not to mention near-infinite rewatch value.

We'll see if the same can be said about the real Detective Pikachu when it opens in theaters this weekend.

(via Twitter)

Next up, disaster filmmaker extraordinaire Roland Emmerich is mounting his next big-budget feature. The Independence Day director is set to helm Moonfall, about a mysterious force that puts the moon on a collision course toward Earth.

The project was first announced back in 2016 after it was acquired by Universal Pictures, not long after Independence Day: Resurgence hit theaters. However, there's been little word about the project until now.

In addition to directing, Emmerich will pen the script with Harald Kloser and Spenser Cohen. The $150 million sci-fi epic is currently in preproduction and expected to start shooting early in 2020. In the meantime, it'll be shopped around to international distributors at the Marché du Film at Cannes later this month.

No casting has been announced at this time.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Finally, Epic Pictures has landed the rights to the psychedelic sci-fi flick The Wave. The film stars Justin Long and Donald Faison and, like Moonfall, will be shopped around at the Cannes market later this month.

The story involves Frank, played by Long, who takes a drug on the verge of a huge promotion that causes the walls of reality to be torn down, leaving him to see existence for what it really is.

The film was written by Carl W. Lucas and will mark the feature directorial debut of Gille Klabin, who's worked primarily with short films. Klabin called the film "a tiny passion project" between him and the screenwriter.

"It snowballed into a much bigger production than we ever dreamed possible but was always our little psychedelic baby," explained the director. "It is so overwhelmingly exciting that the film found its home with Epic Pictures, a company that champions the weird and wonderful works of cinema being made today."

(via Deadline)