--- description: The Smurfs are going back to the drawing board in a fully animated take on the franchise to be released in 2017, Sony Pictures Animation... title: Fully Animated Smurfs Film Set for 2017 Release image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt921340521f73e15a/6987854f5f570f2b34b15f04/85224627.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Fully Animated _Smurfs_ Film Set for 2017 Release by [Jennifer Maas / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jennifer Maas / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 26, 2015 3:24 AM CUT  UNSPECIFIED - circa 1970: (AUSTRALIA OUT) Photo of SMURFS (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns) UNSPECIFIED - circa 1970: (AUSTRALIA OUT) Photo of SMURFS (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns)GAB Archive—Redferns by [Jennifer Maas / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jennifer Maas / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 26, 2015 3:24 AM CUT The Smurfs are going back to the drawing board in a fully animated take on the franchise to be released in 2017, Sony Pictures Animation announced Wednesday. The untitled project is set to have much more in common with the beloved ’80s cartoon than the current half live-action, half computer-animated Smurfs franchise. “With a fully animated feature close in tone and design to Peyo’s original creation, we’re embracing everything that has made the Smurfs so special for audiences worldwide,” Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures president of worldwide distribution, said in a statement. Kelly Asbury (_Shrek 2_) is set to direct, with Jordan Kerner (_The Smurfs_) producing and Mary Ellen Bauder (_Hotel Transylvania_) co-producing. The film’s final title and voice cast will be announced in the next few months. The film is set for March 31, 2017, global release, in order to line up with Easter. [_This article originally appeared on EW.com_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/25/fully-animated-smurfs-film-set-2017-release "undefined") _Read next:_ [_10 Pop Stars You Didn’t Know Voiced Characters In Animated Films_](http://time.com/3757025/rihanna-home-animated-films-voices/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3759311/smurfs-film-movie-animated-3d-shrek-sony/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3759311/smurfs-film-movie-animated-3d-shrek-sony/"},"headline":"Fully Animated Smurfs Film Set for 2017 Release","datePublished":"2015-03-26T03:24:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:27:10.300Z","description":"The Smurfs are going back to the drawing board in a fully animated take on the franchise to be released in 2017, Sony Pictures Animation...","url":"https://time.com/3759311/smurfs-film-movie-animated-3d-shrek-sony/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt921340521f73e15a/6987854f5f570f2b34b15f04/85224627.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Maas / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt921340521f73e15a/6987854f5f570f2b34b15f04/85224627.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Photo of SMURFS","caption":"Photo of SMURFS","creditText":"GAB Archive—Redferns","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3759311/smurfs-film-movie-animated-3d-shrek-sony/","name":"Fully Animated Smurfs Film Set for 2017 Release"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space: The Mission","description":"On March 28, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly begins a historic year in Space. Time follows Kelly and his twin brother, Mark, as they work the test the boundaries of long-term space travel.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gEqrnCPI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-24T14:30:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gEqrnCPI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3759311/smurfs-film-movie-animated-3d-shrek-sony/","duration":"PT3M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3759311/smurfs-film-movie-animated-3d-shrek-sony/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```