‘The Smurfs Movie’ Sets Starry Cast to Join Rihanna; Dave Bautista, Eric Nam Board ‘Airbender’ Franchise
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Rihanna now has a host of blue pals to join her journey as Smurfette in the animated The Smurfs Movie for Paramount Pictures and Paramount Animation.
During the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon on Thursday, Paramount chief Brian Robbins announced that an all-star cast has been set for the film including Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, JP Karliak, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Nick Kroll, James Corden, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña with Kurt Russell and John Goodman. Or, as Robbins put it, “Pretty much the rest of the Screen Actors Guild.” He also praised Rihanna as “the most legendary Smurfette ever.”
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The news comes one year after Rihanna turned up to surprise CinemaCon attendees on the Colosseum stage inside Caesars Palace to announce that she had signed on to tackle the project as a triple threat by providing the voice of Smurfette, producing alongside Ryan Harris, Laurence “Jay” Brown and Tyran “Ty-Ty” Smith, and contributing original music.
Based on the characters of Belgian comics writer and artist Peyo, the movie was described at the time as a comedic, musical adventure “that sets out to answer one of life’s biggest questions: What is a Smurf?” The film, set to be released on Feb. 14, 2025, is being directed by Chris Miller (Puss in Boots) with co-director Matt Landon.
It wasn’t the only news on the animation front announced by Paramount on Wednesday. Paramount Pictures president and CEO Brian Robbins turned up on stage to reveal some slate updates for his company’s animated titles. He welcomed Transformers One stars Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry to the stage to tease an extended trailer (launching wide on April 18).
See below for news on additional titles like Paw Patrol 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2, Smurfs, The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants and Aang: The Last Airbender (working title).
• Paramount, Nickelodeon and Avatar Studios are also teaming on director Lauren Montgomery’s Aang: The Last Airbender (working title) that will be released on Oct. 10, 2025 and has a new cast: Dave Bautista as the villain, Eric Nam, Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten and Román Zaragoza. Producers on the film include Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Latifa Ouaou and Maryann Garger. “Fans of the beloved Avatar have ben asking and we’ve answered the call,” Robbins said of the film, the first of three animated films in the series.
Montgomery, a veteran storyboard artist who directed on the series Voltron: Legendary Defender, is co-directing with William Mata, a veteran storyboard artist who worked on DC League of Super Pets.
• The studio’s beloved yellow talking sponge that lives underwater is returning to the big-screen in The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants set for release on Dec. 19, 2025. The Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies release, directed by Derek Drymon and based on the series created by Stephen Hillenburg, will have its legacy voice cast diving back in for the newest installment. Back are Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy) and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton). Pam Brady and Lisa Stewart and producing. Robbins called it “the biggest Spongebob ever.”
• The third installment in the PAW Patrol franchise has a release date set of July 31, 2026. Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Spin Master Entertainment are teaming on the Cal Brunker-directed PAW Patrol 3, which is being produced by Jennifer Dodge, Laura Clunie and Toni Stevens. Brunker directed the previous films, 2021’s PAW Patrol: The Movie and 2023’s PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, both of which were hits earning $144 million worldwide and $202 million worldwide, respectively.
• Also back for another go will be the turtles from the sewers of New York. Jeff Rowe is back on board to direct Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2, which has locked in a release date of Oct. 9, 2026. The studio, partnered with Nickelodeon Movies, made a splash at last year’s CinemaCon with a turtles-inspired activation with the help of producer Seth Rogen who is producing this new installment with Evan Goldberg, James Weaver and Ramsay McBean. Rowe has co-directors Kyler Spears and Yashar Kassai also on the team.
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