It’s no secret that Sony Pictures Animation’s two live-action/animation hybrid films based on The Smurfs weren’t very well received. The first film, however, was a box office smash. It was a leggy success in North America, but it did even better overseas, grossing a huge $563 million at the end of its run. The Smurfs 2 also made a profit back in the summer of 2013, but it opened rather poorly here (with an unimpressive $17 million, nearly half of what the first film opened with.) and in May 2014, Sony announced that the third film in that series was a goner.
Enter this new “Untitled Animated Smurfs” project.
This new Smurfs film is to be directed by Shrek 2 and Gnomeo & Juliet director Kelly Asbury. It is a reboot, and will be nothing like the two hybrid films. The studio has made it clear that it will an all-animated film, and that it will also feel more like the original comic strip by Peyo. This was arguably great news for animation fans and fans of the comic, and it’s great to know that Asbury himself went as far as creating a blog chronicling the production of the film. This all indicates that the studio wants to make something good and memorable. This isn’t dissimilar to what Blue Sky is doing with The Peanuts Movie.
It was originally slated for an August 5, 2016 release. It has been pushed back to March 31, 2017, in order to take advantage of the Easter weekend and to give Mr. Asbury and crew more time. This was announced on the aforementioned production blog a little earlier today. This puts it one week before Blue Sky’s Ferdinand, but a good three weeks after DreamWorks’ Captain Underpants opens. Whether that’s a smart choice of release date or not is an argument for another day. (Some may argue that putting it too, too close to Ferdinand could possibly hurt both films, others may say it’s no big deal and both will do fine.)
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario