The Pokémon Company closed out this year's World Championships with a genuine surprise: the first new theatrical Pokémon film in roughly seven years, and the first one built specifically around the trading card game rather than Ash-style gym battles.
What we know so far
"Pokémon: Wild Card" was unveiled Sunday night during the closing ceremony of the 2026 World Championships in San Francisco, alongside a short teaser. The story follows a Pokémon TCG player working toward becoming a champion, paired with a ghostly partner Pokémon named Mimikyu — shown in the teaser disguised in a yellow hoodie, echoing Mimikyu's own in-game habit of dressing up like Pikachu.
The film is set for a worldwide release in 2027, though the teaser's tagline — "coming 2027 and beyond" — hints there may be more attached to the announcement than a single movie. Katsuhiko Kitada, whose recent credits include "The First Slam Dunk" and work on "Attack on Titan," is directing, with character designs from Akemi Hayashi and animation from CloverWorks.
Why it matters for collectors
Pokémon movies have historically followed the anime's gym-badge formula. A film built around the TCG itself — the actual cards, the actual game we all play and collect — is a first, and it lands right in the middle of the franchise's 30th-anniversary year. It's a reasonable bet we'll see tie-in sets, promo cards, or at least a fresh wave of interest in the game once the film gets closer to release.
Nothing's been confirmed yet about tie-in product, and 2027 is still a ways off. We'll keep an eye on it and update this space as more details land.