CloverWorks to Animate Pokémon: Wild Card Film for 2027
The Pokémon Company unveiled the franchise’s 24th anime film at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco.
Pokémon: Wild Card will follow a Pokémon TCG player and his partner Mimikyu. Katsuhiko Kitada directs the CloverWorks film, with character designs by Akemi Hayashi.
The Pokémon Company announced Pokémon: Wild Card on Monday, with the new anime film set to open in 2027. CloverWorks is handling animation.
The announcement came during the closing ceremony of the 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco. English and Japanese trailers were released.
The production team includes:
- Director Katsuhiko Kitada, a unit director on The First Slam Dunk and animation director on Attack on Titan.
- Character designer Akemi Hayashi, whose credits include Lazarus and Banana Fish.
- Story Inc., which is producing the film.
The Pokémon Company describes the story as an exciting tale about a Pokémon TCG player and his partner Mimikyu. It asks whether they can achieve their goals when the moment arrives to put their cards on the table.
Wild Card is the franchise’s 24th anime film, and its first since Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle (Gekijōban Pocket Monster Koko). That film opened in Japan in December 2020, and Netflix began streaming it in October 2021.
Sources: Pokémon franchise's website via ANN
