“The Smurfs” Head to Hollywood

From the woods of “far far away”, the Smurfs, those blue-skinned cartoon gnomes with short tails and white hats move towards Hollywood to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

A Hollywood movie based on the Smurfs was announced by Columbia Pictures on Tuesday. The film has been aimed at introducing the cartoon little blue creatures to a new generation of fans.

The Sony Corp. owned studio said it has acquired motion picture rights to the Belgian-born characters from Lafig Belgium S.A. for a big-screen Smurfs adaptation mixing computer-graphic imagery and live action as was employed in the recent 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' and 'Garfield' films.

Although no casting and directing decisions have been made so far, the studio is negotiating with David Stem and David Weiss, the writing team behind both "Shrek" sequels and "The Rugrats Movie," to write the screenplay.

Doug Belgrad, President of Columbia Pictures said, "The Smurfs are one of the best-known franchises and among the most beloved collection of characters in the world. We're very excited to introduce a new generation to Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the other Smurfs in all of their 'three apple tall' glory."

Movie rights to the property were originally secured in 2002, and the producer for the project, Jordan Kerner, had been developing a Smurfs feature at Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, which now has an option to co-finance the film and distribute it internationally.

No time frame for production or release of the film has been set, but a Columbia spokesman said, "We are committed to it and hope to get moving on it as quickly as we can."

Encompassing over 100 characters, the mostly male individuals all share the Smurf moniker and a descriptive first name such as Lazy Smurf, Grouchy Smurf, Brainy Smurf and Grandpa Smurf.

The Smurfs first appeared in a series of Belgium comic strips originally called Les Schtroumpfs in French. They were created by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, better known as Peyo in 1958.

The Smurfs are probably best known from the long-running Hanna-Barbera cartoon series that aired on NBC's Saturday morning lineup through the 1980s and is still seen in roughly 30 countries.