Hollywood is all about tapping into our sense of nostalgia with reboots, revivals, and live action remakes. This summer Paramount Pictures is reintroducing the world to those little blue Smurfs with some of the same live action magic we’ve seen from Disney and Dreamworks, set to be released on July 18.
Something of a reintroduction, Smurfs is directed by Chris Miller, with a star-studded voice cast, including Rihanna (who also has a producer credit), James Corden, Nick Offerman, Daniel Levy, Sandra Oh, and many more. Find out everything you need to know about the upcoming Smurfs extravaganza, including how involved Rihanna actually was in the project, the plot, and more about the soundtrack. Pegged as a live-action animated musical fantasy comedy film (ry and say that five times without stuttering!), this is sure to be a great family movie for the upcoming summer holidays.
What is Smurfs about?
In an interview with Collider, Chris Miller said he saw Smurfs as a reintroduction to the characters, positioning the movie as the first one, hence the from its original title of The Smurfs Musical to simply Smurfs, continuing, “This is something that should and will stand on its own.”
The story, then, will take us back to the start in many ways, following as Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is abducted by Gargamel and Razamel, evil wizards that feature in the original comics. This leaves Smurfette (Rihanna) to lead a gang of Smurfs to journey to the real world (live action, hello!) to save him and, it turns out, the whole universe.
Who is in the cast of Smurfs?
There’s a whole range of familiar sounding folks voicing the Smurfs in the latest animation, including Rihanna and James Corden. Here’s the full Smurfs cast list.
- Rihanna as Smurfette
- John Goodman as Papa Smurf
- James Corden as No Name
- Nick Offerman as Ken, Papa Smurf’s brother
- J. P. Karliak as both Gargamel and Razamel
- Sandra Oh as Moxie, Ken’s daughter
- Maya Erskine as Vanity
- Kurt Russell as Ron, Papa’s other brother
- Xolo Maridueña as Brainy
When does Smurfs come out?
Smurfs will be released at Cineworld on July 18 with tickets available to book now.
What is Rihanna’s song for Smurfs called?
Rihanna has written and released an original song for the Smurfs soundtrack, which was released on May 16 ahead of Smurfs coming out. The song is called ‘Friend of Mine’.
The Smurfs soundtrack as a whole is an exciting one, with the Roc Nation team (owned by Jay-Z) behind it. Artists on board for the soundtrack include Tyla and Shenseea, with Henry Jackman composing the film’s score.
How involved was Rihanna in producing Smurfs?
Some might be a little jaded when big names outside of the film industry are attached to films in roles behind the camera. However, Chris Miller was quick to praise Rihanna's extensive involvement beyond lending her voice to Smurfette and finding the music to fit the story.
"Early on, art development really kept her involved and up to date, especially on Smurfette. Smurfette’s very much based on the Peyo design, but there are just some subtle changes that we found, and it took a long time. It took collaboration with her and conversation with her [...] That was her involvement, that sort of artistic visual collaborative way. She's all about her performance."
.jpg)
.png)
