Screen Daily is the first to bring any kind of news related to Sony’s upcoming The Smurfs Movie film which seems to have been discussed for many years but never got off the ground. Word is Beverly Hills Chihuahua helmer, Raja Gosnell, will be taking the reigns on the film which is set for a December 17, 2010 release in 2D and 3D.
The story is based on the legendary blue characters created by Pierre Culliford, more famously known as Peyo. “The Smurfs” originated in 1958 as a Belgian comic strip and NBC launched “The Smurfs” in 1981, spawning 256 episodes and multiple Emmy awards.
I can only assume we are looking at something that will be approached exactly like Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks, which grossed over $217 million in 2007 and will see a sequel released this holiday. That film stars Jason Lee as he banters back-and-forth with Alvin, Simon and Theodore, three chipmunks fully rendered in CG.
Outside of voice-casting for The Smurfs, which I assume will be made up of A-listers, the only real human role I can remember from the cartoon as a kid is that of the sorcerer Gargamel, the sworn enemy of the Smurfs.
Coming Soon recently debuted the titles for the feature, which you can see here and some CGI renders showed up online back in February 2008, which you can see here.
