Rihanna cast as Smurfette in new Smurfs movie

A new Smurfs movie is in the works at Paramount – and Rihanna is set to take on a starring (voice) role as Smurfette. The news broke at this year's CinemaCon when Rihanna took to the conference stage with Paramount Animation head Ramsey Naito. "I tried to get the Papa Smurf role but It didn’t work out," she joked. 

Rihanna will also write and record original songs for the movie, as well as producing the film. Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots helmer Chris Miller will direct and South Park writer Pam Brady penned the script. Per Variety, Naito said that the movie would explore themes of identity and ask the central question, 'what is a Smurf?'.

The last time the Smurfs appeared on the big screen was in Sony's duo of live-action/animation hybrid movies, The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2, which were released in 2011 and 2013 and featured a cast including Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria and the voices of Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, and Anton Yelchin. A third movie was planned for 2015 but then canceled, and a reboot, Smurfs: The Lost Village, with a new cast, was released in 2017 instead.

This isn't Rihanna's first voice acting gig – she appeared in Home, the 2015 Dreamworks movie, alongside Jim Parsons, Steve Martin, and Jennifer Lopez. More recently, she recorded the song 'Lift Me Up' for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Oscars.

The Smurfs Movie is set to hit the big screen on February 14, 2025. In the meantime, check out our guide to this year's most highly anticipated movie release dates.