Opening in theaters this week is Raja Gosnell’s Smurfs 2.  The film picks up three years after the first installment when Gargamel (Hank Azaria), now a successful Paris-based stage magician, devises a plan to become the most powerful wizard on earth by kidnapping Smurfette (Katy Perry) and stealing her Smurf-essence.  When the little blue guys team up to rescue Smurfette they turn to old friends Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace (Jayma Mays) for help, and set off to Paris for an adventure that has a surprisingly genuine message about identity and the meaning of family.  Smurfs 2 also stars Brendan Gleeson, Christina Ricci, Jonathan Winters, Anton Yelchin, George Lopez, and John Oliver.

At the recent Las Vegas press day I sat down for a video interview with Harris and Mays.  They talked about shooting in Paris, the film’s message, working with Brendan Gleeson, the fun they have on set, and playing parents.  Additionally, Harris commented on the final season of How I Met Your Mother.  Hit the jump to watch.

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for the animated sequel The Smurfs 2.  Directed by Raja Gosnell, the film finds Gargamel (Hank Azaria) creating his own version of Smurfs called “Naughties” in the hopes of bottling the powerful “Smurf-essence.”  Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry) finds herself caught up in the plan and is at risk of turning into one of the Naughties herself.  The new trailer highlights plenty of goofy shenanigans that kids may or may not find funny, but the film looks like it has a very limited appeal for adult audiences.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays and features the voices of Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver.  The Smurfs 2 opens in 3D on July 31st.

The first trailer has been made available for The Smurfs 2. This time around, it looks as if Gargamel (Hank Azaria) is making his own version of Smurfs called “Naughties” in the hopes of bottling the powerful “Smurf-essence.” Poor Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry) gets caught up in the plan and runs the risk of turning into one of the Naughties herself, unless the other Smurfs can rescue her.

The Smurfs director Raja Gosnell returns to direct the sequel, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays, and featuring the voices of Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver. The Smurfs 2 will debut in theaters on July 31, 2013. Hit the jump to check out the first trailer.

Audiences who liked The Smurfs know what they’re getting in The Smurfs 2 (and again in The Smurfs 3), so this new teaser trailer doesn’t try too hard to win over new viewers. It’s just a cutesy reminder that the little blue critters still exist and that they’ll have a movie coming out next summer.

The Smurfs director Raja Gosnell returns to direct the sequel, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria and Jayma Mays, and featuring the voices of Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver. The Smurfs 2 will debut in theaters on July 31, 2013. Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer.

As you may have noticed, we’ve been a bit flooded with content for the past week thanks in no small part to Comic-Con 2011. We’ve been posting our full-scale coverage from the convention (I’m still trying to catch up on sleep), which has included a large number of interviews. We know some of you might have missed a few of these interviews, so we’ve compiled a sort of “catch up” list of 10 that we thought you might enjoy.

Not all of the interviews are Comic-Con related, but we’ve got conversations with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, Damon Lindelof, Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Marc Webb, Steve Carell, Patrick Stewart, Don Cheadle, Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays, Nicolas Winding Refn, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Don Cheadle and Kate Beckinsale. Hit the jump for some quick recaps and links to the full interviews.

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of talking to Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Jayma Mays (Glee) for their upcoming film The Smurfs. The film follows the adventures of six Smurfs who are accidentally transported to modern-day New York City. In The Smurfs, Harris and Mays play a married couple with a baby on the way who find and watch over the lost Smurfs. I actually had a lot of fun with this film and I know kids will definitely love it.

During my exclusive interview, we discussed their early memories of the Smurfs, building chemistry after working together during guest stints on each other’s TV show and feeling crazy acting opposite imaginary Smurfs. Harris also teases his role in the upcoming A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. The Smurfs hits theaters this Friday, July 29.  Hit the jump to watch.

A few weeks ago, I attended a Smurfs movie presentation at Sony Studios in Culver City, California. While there I got to watch a number of clips (some were in 3D) and I watched an interesting and informative behind the scenes presentation by Sony Pictures Imageworks visual effects producer Lydia Bottegoni, visual effects supervisor Rich Hoover, director Raja Gosnell and producer Jordan Kerner.  They explained the challenges of bringing Smurfs to the big screen and the technical hurdles they had to overcome.  While I love learning about new movie technology, I know most of you just want to know about the footage.  My quick answer is kids are going to love the movie and I thought the 3D looked great.

Shortly after the presentation ended, we went to a small conference room and we were able to conduct a small roundtable interview with director Raja Gosnell & producer Jordan Kerner (watch it here) and then we spoke to Jayma Mays and Hank Azaria. Mays plays Neil Patrick Harris’s wife and Azaria plays Gargamel.  During the interview, they each talked about bringing their characters to life, the improv, the challenges of working with characters that will be added in post production, filming in New York City, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Is there only one joke in The Smurfs?  We get it: the Smurfs use the word “Smurf” as a substitute for other words and that can be applied to swearing.  And while I love Neil Patrick Harris, this looks like an absolutely terrible movie.  But I’m not going to fly into a rage over it.  I’ll just calmly acknowledge this movie wasn’t made for me but for gullible children and their nostalgic parents.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, Anton Yelchin, Jonathan Winters, and Hank Azaria.  The Smurfs opens in 3D on July 29th.

The trailer for Columbia’s 3D family flick The Smurfs has landed online and has no problem using “smurf” as an interchangeable verb. Directed by Raja Gosnell (Beverly Hills Chihuahua), The Smurfs stars Neil Patrick Harris, Glee‘s Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria, and voice acting from George Lopez, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Paul Reubens, Kenan Thompson, and Katy Perry among others. Considering there is a great chance I’m nowhere near the target demographic Columbia is aiming for, I’ll simply say that the trailer makes the film look like it could be a good time for kids a la 2007′s Alvin and the Chimpmunks.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer for yourself. The Smurfs hits theaters this summer on August 3.

Sony has sent over a new high resolution image from The Smurfs movie and you can get a close up look at Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Smurfette, and a few others. The Smurfs is, of course, the feature film based upon the pint-sized blue creatures from the comic and television series of the same name. Directed by Raja Gosnell (Scooby-Doo), the film stars Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays (Glee), and Sofia Vergara (Modern Family), and includes the voice talent of Katy Perry, Fred Armisen, Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman), BJ Novak (The Office), and Alan Cumming (X2).    Hit the jump to get a look at the new image in high resolution.  The Smurfs invades your local cinema in 3D on August 3^rd, 2011.

Sony has released a teaser trailer for next summer’s 3D Smurfs movie.  And when I say teaser trailer…I mean teaser trailer.  I think the clip has about 4 seconds of Smurfs screen time.  But with a release date of August 3, 2011 and the fact that the film is still shooting in New York City, they probably don’t have much rendered footage.  However, a teaser trailer is designed to raise awareness, and the clip does just that.  Hit the jump to check it out.  Smurfs stars Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara and Anton Yelchin.

The first official image of the revamped and modernized smurf characters for the upcoming movie The Smurfs has hit the net.  The new film adaptation of the beloved ‘80s Hannah Barbera cartoon and original Belgian comic series will use both computer animation and live action for on its 3D release on August 3, 2011.  Papa Smurf’s looks smurfing smurf with his new makeover!

More smurf news( including one major plot change) after the jump.

The first images of Hank Azaria as Gargamel in Sony Pictures The Smurfs have hit the net.  The reason we’re getting our first look at Gargamel is the production was shooting on the streets of New York City and the paparazzi got him. As you can tell in the above image, the production seems to be sticking close to the cartoon.   For more pictures and the synopsis, hit the jump.

The Smurfs get smurfed on August 3, 2011.  The cast includes Neil Patrick Harris (Johan), Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara (Odile-Johan’s wife), Anton Yelchin (Clumsy Smurf), Jonathan Winters (Papa Smurf), Katy Perry (Smurfette), Alan Cumming (Gutsy Smurf), Fred Armisen (Brainy Smurf), George Lopez (Grouchy Smurf), and Paul Reubens (Jokey Smurf).

Three quick pieces of casting news for you tonight.  First up, Deadline reports that Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman) has signed on to voice the character of “Jokey” Smurf in the upcoming CG-animated film The Smurfs.  Reubens joins Neil Patrick Harris, George Lopez, Quentin Tarantino, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Jonathan Winters, and Jayma Mays.

Hit the jump for news on Ice Cube joining Oren Moverman’s (The Messenger) police corruption drama Rampart and Bryce Dallas Howard coming on board Tate Taylor’s The Help.

THE SMURFS Begins Production in New York

To be clear: I do not care about The Smurfs live-action/CGI movie at all. However, Collider is a news site and we don’t just report on the projects we are personally excited for. So for our three readers who are excited for The Smurfs, Sony Pictures Animation sent out a press release announcing that film had begun production.  They also revealed that Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) and Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) would be among the voice cast.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  The Smurfs is slated to hit theaters on August 3, 2011.