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.

Let us all gather round and check out a few new posters:

• The Smurfs 2 - Smurfs director Raja Gosnell returns to direct the sequel, featuring the voices of Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver.
• Rise of the Guardians - Mythical figures Jack Frost (Chris Pine), Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter bunny (Hugh Jackman), the tooth fairy (Isla Fisher), and the sandman team up to fight the boogieman Pitch (Jude Law).
• Argo - Ben Affleck directed and stars in the political thriller about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.  Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Kerry Bishé, and Kyle Chandler co-star.

Hit the jump for the posters.

Now that we’ve told you what’s filming where, instead of just watching the action from behind the police barricades, perhaps you’d like to be in front of the cameras.

If that sounds like something you might be interested in pursuing, let us point you in the right direction towards the people who are hiring this key element to any movie.  They’re referred to in different ways: background artists, atmosphere and the most common sobriquet—extras. Pretty much every film needs them, and some more than others.  If Iron Man is saving the population of entire cities, they can’t all be in the other room.  Audiences need to see hundreds of people running and screaming in the midst of the controlled chaos.  When Jackie Robinson makes history by taking the field, it would be a pretty hollow effort if no one is in the stands to cheer him on.  You get the idea.  So are you ready for your close-up?  Hit the jump for more on Iron Man 3, Machete Kills, CBGB, Grown Ups 2, The Smurfs 2, The Walking Dead, and more.

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.

In case you forgot, a sequel to last year’s The Smurfs is on its way (sigh).  Nearly the entire cast from the first pic—including Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria and Katy Perry—are returning, and now THR reports that Brendan Gleeson and J.B. Smoove will be joining the cast as newcomers.  In addition, THR noted a few days ago that Christina Ricci will also come onboard.  Ricci will be playing Vexy, an evil version of the lovely Smurfette (Perry), while Smoove will voice a new character named “Hackus” who is described as “naughty” (the Smurfs have always walked a fine line between children’s fare and inappropriate).  Gleeson, meanwhile, will play Harris’ stepfather, Victor Doyle.  Given that this is a kids’ film, I can only assume that the stepfather will be somewhat evil.

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.

I love the animated adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  It is delightfully strange, witty, and at times, downright darkly comic (it still blows my mind that directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller got away with the scene where Flynn charges into a house, and basically uses snowballs to murder a family).  I was a little bummed that the duo wouldn’t be returning for the sequel, but I’m encouraged that Horrible Bosses writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are handling the script, and new directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn worked on the first movie.  We still don’t know what the sequel will be about, but we might know what it’s called.  We were sent a promo poster for the movie and the title reads: Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers.  As you may recall, the leftovers created a crazy avalanche that forced out the poor citizens of Swallow Falls, so haven’t the leftovers already had their revenge?

Again, this could just be a working title, and to be honest, I don’t really care what the movie is called.  I’m just hoping the flick is as funny and memorable as Cloud with a Chance of Meatballs.  Hit the jump to check out the promo poster.

As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

Jack and Jill gained some ground on Saturday, though not enough to slay the Immortals.  The 3D action/fantasy film finished first with an estimated $32 million from 3,112 locations. Considering that the film’s distributor was expecting a top opening of $26 million that has to be seen as a win.  And even if the film’s total does look somewhat anemic compared to past 3D hits, with the year we’ve had I’d prefer to focus on the positive.

Under consideration for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature will be 18 contenders, some of which have yet to have their qualifying runs on screen. Major features include The Adventures of Tintin, Rango and Cars 2. Disney/Pixar has won 6 out of 10 years, while winning the last four in a row, but with DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots in the running, it could very well be their turn. Though there are some dark horses in the mix.

Submitted films must satisfy the category’s qualifying rules, including their theatrical release, in order to continue the submission process. In order to activate the award category at all, no fewer than 8 animated features must be released in theaters in Los Angeles County within the calendar year. If these films meet requirements for other categories, including Best Picture, they may be eligible for those awards as well. Hit the jump to see the full list.

After two weeks on top, Rise of the Planet of the Apes swapped places with last week’s number two The Help on top of the weekend box office.  That left places 3-5 for the major new releases, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, Conan the Barbarian, and Fright Night.  Even One Day managed only a middling per-screen average in its smaller release.  Details after the jump.

Never underestimate the power of kids. While all eyes were on Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens, Sony’s The Smurfs ended up being the film that brought audiences in in droves this July, raking in $35 million in its first weekend. Suffice it to say, kids the country over were begging their parents to take them to the movie with the little blue guys, and a large number of parents acquiesced. We reported last week that Sony had already slated The Smurfs 2 for August 2, 2013, and now THR reports that the first film’s writers have just turned in a draft for a sequel.

Writing teams David Stem and David Weiss and Jay Scherick and David Ronn began working on the sequel’s story back in the spring (a bit confident, eh Sony?), and Stem and Weiss then went off to write the actual script, which director Raja Gosnell and producer Jordan Kerner told Steve about in their interview back in June. So it sure sounds like things are off and running for the follow-up.

After managing to almost beat out Cowboys & Aliens at the box office a couple weeks ago, The Smurfs now qualifies as a “surprise hit” even though it was marketed to death and aimed squarely at young children who are worth the price of two tickets since at least one parent usually has to tag along.  Sony has now given the go ahead to The Smurfs 2 and will release the film on August 2, 2013.  Back in June, Steve caught up with The Smurfs director Raja Gosnell and producer Jordan Kerner during which the pair talked about how they had already began penning The Smurfs 2.  You can click here to check out his video interview with them and rest assured knowing that two years from now we’ll be getting more tired jokes about how the word “smurf” can be used as a substitute for swear words. [Box Office Mojo]

Looks like the marketing got it right: this weekend the apes will rise.  Fox’s modern entry in the classic Planet of the Apes franchise – Rise of the Planet of the Apes – opened on Friday with $19.75 million from 3,648 locations.  That puts the prequel /remake /reboot on track for a three day estimate of between $45 and $50 million.  Not only is that significantly above early projections for the film, but it is also well over what last weekend’s higher-budgeted Cowboys and Aliens pulled in for its (just barely) number one debut over The Smurfs.  After missing out on that top spot, the family film went on to beat the smurf out of Cowboys and Aliens all week long; including Friday where The Smurfs placed second.  Though statistically tied for third place, the weekend’s second new release is a big disappointment no matter how you slice it.  The R-rated comedy The Change-Up opened with an estimated $4.7 million from 2,913 locations and is not expected to make even the modest mid-teens that Universal projected.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

At the moment the estimates for the weekend’s two top films are dead even: a box office rarity.  Both Cowboys and Aliens and The Smurfs are claiming estimates of $36.2 million – a figure that is slightly embarrassing for one film and a near miracle for the other.