Deadline reports that Neil Patrick Harris will play a human (not a Smurf – dang it!) in the live-action/CG animation hybrid of Sony’s big tentpole Smurfs movie. While the news is far from legendary, or Smurftastic, the hybrid looks to make the same bank that Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks films have made. Director Raja Gosnell, who is well versed in making live-action/CG movies with Scooby-Doo, is at the helm and is working from a screenplay from tandem J. David Stem and David N. Weiss (Daddy Day Camp, Shrek 2). Shooting begins in April, the month where Barney is on hiatus from chasing tail at the bars on How I Met Your Mother.
The Pulse: Yeah, the addition of Neil Patrick Harris isn’t enough to change my opinion of the development of a Smurfs movie. Sony Pictures may be hard at work on the animation side of things, but the combination of Gosnell and writers of Daddy Day Camp doesn’t help matters. The movie will arrive in the heat of summer 2011 on July 29th.
Sound off: Okay, who out there is honestly excited about a Smurfs movie? Is it enough excitement to want to see it in 3D, because you know all the ads will be touting the 3D experience.
