This year, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation will begin filming The Smurfs Musical in Rome and Paris, reports Moviedelic. Director Chris Miller is collaborating with co-director Matt Landon on the live-action hybrid film. Rihanna will voice Smurfette, in addition to acting as producer, creating original songs, and contributing vocals.
Pam Brady wrote the script, inspired by Peyo’s characters and works. As part of the plot, the film explores the idea of identity and asks the question, “What is a Smurf?” Miller’s directorial credits include Puss in Boots and co-directing Shrek the Third.
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Among Brady’s recent writing credits are Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken and Judd Apatow’s The Bubble, which follows actors and actresses in a pandemic bubble who are trying to complete a movie. As part of her work, she has also co-created a series called Lady Dynamite, based on the life of Maria Bamford, presenting sometimes surreal episodes from different phases of her life. In addition, she created the animated sitcom Neighbors from Hell, in which Satan sends a family to the United States to prevent an American company from drilling into Hell.
In the past, Rihanna has worked on acclaimed projects such as Guava Island, Ocean’s Eight, Bates Motel, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. “I got to play a part and just imagine. I got to just be myself,” Rihanna told the press at CinemaCon 2023. “I got to show up in my pajamas in my third trimester and play a little blue badass,” she added. As a bonus, she hopes that the film will gain her “a little bit of cool points” with her children.
Rihanna expressed her excitement, saying, “I can’t wait for you guys to see how [Smurfette has] been reimagined.” As for the animation, she described it as a “fun journey,” and also said, “The entire movie is going to be so fun. It’s so thrilling.”
A number of Smurfs films have been produced in recent years, based on Peyo’s Belgian comics of the same name. These movies include The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), and Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), all by Sony Pictures. The forthcoming musical is the first movie in the franchise released by Paramount Pictures. The movie is scheduled for release on February 14, 2025.
