Rihanna to Voice Smurfette in ‘Smurfs’; Chris Rock Joins New ‘PAW Patrol’ Movie

Rihanna will voice Smurfette in Paramount and Nickelodeon’s untitled Smurfs animated film. She’ll also write and perform original music for the film while serving as a producer on the movie, which is slated for a Feb. 14, 2025, release.

Appearing onstage at CinemaCon, Rihanna said she’s thrilled to be playing this “blue badass” in the reimagined Smurfs movie. “I get to show up in my PJs in my third trimester,” added the mother-to-be. “I hope this gives me cool points with my kids one day.”

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Based on the characters of Belgian comics writer and artist Peyo, the movie is described as a comedic, musical adventure “that sets out to answer one of life’s biggest questions: What is a Smurf?” Chris Miller, the Oscar-nominated director of 2011’s Puss in Boots, is helming the project.

During Paramount’s presentation at CinemaCon, Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, teased an ambitious slate of upcoming animated pics that also includes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and the newly named Transformers One.

Naito also previewed a trailer for Sept. 29 release PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and revealed that Chris Rock will have a cameo in the film.

He joins an ensemble cast that includes Taraji P. Henson, Kristen Bell, James Marsden, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian.

In the story, a magical meteor crash lands in Adventure City, giving the PAW Patrol pups superpowers — they are now the “Mighty Pups” — that they will need to defeat a team of supervillains when archrival Humdinger breaks out of jail.

Naito also revealed concept art from the studio’s 2025 releases: colorful underwater imagery from the newly titled The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, directed by Derek Drymon and set for a May 23, 2025, release; and the 2D-styled The Last Airbender (working title), directed by Lauren Montgomery and slated for an Oct. 10, 2025, release.

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