“Smurfs” writers back for sequel, already turned in draft

By Sean O’Connell
To date, the live-action/animation hybrid “The Smurfs” has earned $106.5 million at the domestic box office. By the time you factor in international and home video sales, it will be a sizeable hit for Sony Pictures.
So you can understand why the studio is taking the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to the announced sequel.
Writers David Stem and David Weiss have been hired to return and write the next “Smurfs” movie, according to THR. They’ll once again collaborate with Jay Scherick and David Ronn on a story and screenplay. In fact, they might be further along than you’d think.
Sony, it seems, knew it had a hit on its hands, so they triggered the script for a sequel. “The early assignment was due to the large amount of lead-time required for live action/CG hybrids,” the trade reports. And that finished script was handed in “a couple of weeks ago,” meaning the studio is that much closer to getting “Smurfs 2” into theaters.
There’s no indication whether Raja Gosnell will return to direct his sequel, or if the Smurfs will stay in their forest this time (or tackle a different city). You could always bring Neil Patrick Harris into the enchanted Smurf kingdom, if you wanted to make this franchise a little more strange (like the “Harold & Kumar” films).