The news broke in January that Sony had decided to stop making live-action/CG blended films with the Smurfs and switch back to just CG animated adventures for a new origin story. Mandy Patinkin was announced as Papa Smurf back then, with Rainn Wilson and Demi Lovato joining him for what we now know is called Get Smurfy.
Sony used Global Smurfs Day (that is, at time of writing, today) to fully announce the new movie, which aims to harken back to Smurfs creator Peyo Culliford’s original style of the creatures in a story that finds the small blue characters searching the Enchanted Forest for the Smurf village, while tackling questions such as why there is only one girl – Lovato’s Smurfette – among them.
“We felt it was important to take a very different approach with this origin story. It returns to the roots of Peyo’s creation in this CG animated adventure,” says executive producer Jordan Kerner. “I hope it will delight not only fans but audiences worldwide. We couldn’t be more excited with the talented new cast we’re starting to assemble for our Smurfy reboot. ”
They’ll face the usual trouble from the evil sorcerer Gargamel (Wilson), who has devious plans for the Smurfs. Shrek 2’s Kelly Asbury is directing the film, which is set for release on March 31, 2017.