Sony Pictures Animation has made a couple of announcements regarding its release slate.  First up, the studio has hired Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2, Gnomeo & Juliet) to direct a new, fully animated reboot of its Smurfs franchise.  The untitled film is not a continuation of its existing live-action/CG hybrid franchise, and instead is an entirely animated feature that will be stylistically closer to the original Smurfs artwork created by Peyo.  The pic is described as an origin story that explores “the beginnings of the beloved little blue creatures” and is slated for an August 2015 release.

Additionally, Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky will helm the original animated feature Can You Imagine?.  Plot details are thin, but the film is described as “a fantastic journey through one boy’s imagination.”  Tartakovsky is also attached to direct Hotel Transylvania 2 for a September 2015 release and is developing an all-CG Popeye film for the studio as well.  Read the full press release after the jump.

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 a recent Las Vegas press day I sat down for an exclusive video interview with Azaria.  He talked about Gargamel’s  feline companion Azreal, acting with a cat, how voice work prepped him for CG, shooting in Paris, how Parisians reacted to his Gargamel getup, whether he prefers voice acting or live action, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

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.

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.

After Sony’s The Smurfs grossed a grand total of $563 million at the global box office last year, they waited a grand total of 12 days before green lighting a sequel.  The studio has released an official logo (above) for the sequel, titled The Smurfs 2, but there was another surprising Smurf-related development today.  Apparently, Sony has enough confidence in their sequel writers Karey Kirkpatrick and Chris Poche, that they’re now giving the go-ahead on The Smurfs 3. Given that the production of The Smurfs 2 is already underway with much of the original cast returning (plus a few new faces), things must be coming along quite nicely.

Raja Gosnell, who helmed the first Smurfs film, returns as director for the sequel which also stars Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver. The Smurfs 2 is set for release on July 31st, 2013.  Hit the jump for news on The Smurfs 3.

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.

Recently, I had the immense pleasure of talking to Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) for his upcoming film The Smurfs. The film follows the adventures of six Smurfs who are accidentally transported to modern-day New York City. In the film, Azaria (heavily aided by make-up and a hair piece) plays the villain, Gargamel, who also travels to New York to seek out the Smurfs. I actually had a lot of fun with the movie and kids will definitely love it.

During my exclusive interview, we discussed bringing life to a character’s first live action iteration, acting opposite imaginary Smurfs, roaming New York in costume and performing karaoke as one of his iconic characters from The Simpsons. We also spoke at length about his upcoming NBC show Free Agents. The Smurfs hits theaters this Friday, July 29. Hit the jump to watch the interview.

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.

Earlier today, 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.  They talked about the challenges of doing a CG/live-action hybrid movie, how did they decide which Smurfs would come into our world, why NYC, how did Smurfs creator Peyo influence the movie, and why is Gutsy Smurf Scottish.  In addition, they revealed they’re already writing the script for the sequel and the DVD/Blu-ray will be released this Christmas with an original 22 minute Smurfs movie with a Christmas theme.  Hit the jump to watch the video.

Earlier today, I attended a Smurfs movie presentation at Sony Studios in Culver City and in the coming days, I’ll have interviews with the filmmakers and some of the cast.  While Smurfs is clearly aimed at kids, I grew up watching the little blue creatures and was curious how the movie came together.  Even though we only got to see a few clips (with some looking great in 3D), based on the footage, I think kids are going to love the movie and it’s going to be a big hit for Sony.

Anyway, in the room used for interviews, Sony put up a number of concept images from the movie and I snapped a few pictures.  So if you’d like to see Papa Smurfs Mushroom, Smurfs Village, The Smurfs History and a few close up pictures of the village, hit the jump.

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 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.

Since the dawn of the computer age, men have wondered what a CG Smurf would look like, and today we have our answer: simply adorable. UGO.com managed to get their hands on a black-and-white image from the upcoming big-screen adaptation of the beloved ’80s cartoon, which is currently in production. The pic features a delightful little fellow who apparently goes by the name of Smurfy. Or maybe “Smurfy” is an adjective being used to describe him…if you’ve seen the original 1980s cartoon, you know just how broad and ambiguous the usage of the root word “smurf” tends to be.

Based on a Belgian comic strip, The Smurfs were a Hanna-Barbera production that ran from 1981-1990. The show followed the adventures of a race of tiny blue humanoids living idyllic lives in their forest village. The big-screen update is being brought to you by Columbia Pictures and will be helmed by Scooby Doo director Raja Gosnell. It’s currently set to be released on July 29, 2011. Hit the jump for the pic.

“The Smurfs” is way before my time. I’ll smile and nod when they’re referenced in casual conversation or pop culture, as in Richard Kelly’s “Donnie Darko,” but I’ve never actually watched the show. In fact, my first exposure will likely be when the computer generated, 3-D film comes out holiday season 2010.

From what I can gather, the film follows a small community of the little blue guys that are threatened by an evil wizard who wants to use them for some undisclosed evil purpose. Though I’m told the film is in CG, this first picture looks startlingly like claymation, and fans of the originals will appreciate that very little artistic liberty was taken in their adaptation. For the first picture of a Smurf in the new millenium, head past the jump.