As the only female Smurf in all of Smurf Village, it’s a wonder Smurfette isn’t at the heart of every story. Rihanna kicks off the new trailer for Paramount’s animated musical, Smurfs, and for good reason, as she’s voicing Smurfette who takes the spotlight in this reboot of the classic Peyo franchise.
Following three movies from Sony Pictures, Paramount and Nickelodeon take over with Smurfs, a new film from writer Pam Brady and director Chris Miller, best known for directing Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots, the latter earning Miller an Oscar nomination.
Along with Rihanna as Smurfette, the voice cast includes James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña with Kurt Russell and John Goodman.
But it’s Rihanna that you’ll hear most as it’s her music that energizes this trailer and, presumably, the whole film. The award-winning singer is also a producer and has new music on the soundtrack.
Here’s the synopsis:
When Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is mysteriously taken by evil wizards, Razamel and Gargamel, Smurfette (Rihanna) leads the Smurfs on a mission into the real world to save him. With the help of new friends, the Smurfs must discover what defines their destiny to save the universe.
On the whole this looks kind of funny. If you’re going to do the Smurfs the best way is to be contemporary and self-aware. There’s an Influencer Smurfs for chrissakes so we know it’s that.
Smurfs opens in theaters on July 18th.
