Chris Miller, the director of the 2011 animated film Puss in Boots, is set to direct an as-of-yet unnamed musical film based on the iconic Smurfs property.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be brought to theaters by Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, and will reportedly be aiming for a December 20, 2024 release date in theaters.
The film will be written by Pam Brady (Team America: World Police) and is the first film to come from a partnership that Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation made with Smurfs license holders LAFIG Belgium and IMPS, which gave the former the ability to produce multiple movies based on the hit franchise.
An official announcement is set to arrive later this week at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. Miller has an extensive history in the world of animation, having worked as a storyboard artist across a variety of hit films, including Antz, Shrek, and more.
In 2007, he was also given the reins to Shrek the Third, a film that marked his first major directorial effort. Miller is best known for helming the 2011 film Puss in Boots, however — a film that went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.
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The Smurfs franchise is no stranger to the world of film, as multiple movies have been made on the characters in the past decade or so, starting with Sony’s 2011 film The Smurfs and its 2013 sequel, with the latest film being the 2017 animated film Smurfs: The Lost Village.
