7/7/2009

in

Has tapped Raja Gosnell to direct film based on popular 1980s cartoon.

John Winn

The citizens of Smurfville are one step closer to the big screen.  
  
According to Daily Variety, Sony Pictures has tapped director Raja Gosnell, of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," to direct a feature film based on the popular children's cartoon of the 1980s.  
  
Although the exact details of the film are being kept secret, in a statement, Wednesday, Sony announced that Jordan Kerner of "Charlotte's Web" fame is producing the film, while J. David Stem and David Weiss of the "Shrek" films are penning the script.  
  
The decision comes on the heels of Sony acquiring the film rights to the "Smurfs" franchise from Lafig Belgium, via Kerner, who secured the film rights in 2002.  
  
Created by Belgian Pierre Culliford, the characters began as a series of comic strips, which ran in the Belgian newspaper, Le Journal de Spirou, from 1958 to 1976 and in a series of graphic novels and black and white cartoons before premiering to American audiences as a television program in 1981.  
  
The Smurf films mark Sony's late entry into the 3-D hybrid animation business, having been beaten by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp's "Arthur and the Invisibles."