American singer Rihanna is set to voice the popular animated character Smurfette in the reboot of the Smurfs film franchise, the pop star announced on Thursday. She also shared the official trailer of the upcoming film, titled Smurfs, directed by Chris Miller and Matt Landon on social media.
Set to hit the theatres on July 18, the two-minute-22-second long trailer opens with Smurfette introducing herself as the ‘coolest character’ of the Smurfs colony and then offering a trip through her village where “every day is a party”. As the villagers groove to Rihanna’s iconic track Don’t Stop The Music, Papa Smurf is abducted by what appears to be an UFO, forcing Smurfette and her friends to set out on a rescue mission.
The Smurfs movie is based on comic book characters created by Belgian comic writer Pierre Culliford, a.k.a Peyo. Katy Perry voiced Smurfette in the 2011 animated adaptation of the comics titled The Smurfs (2011) and its sequel The Smurfs 2 (2013).
Another animated reboot of the franchise — Smurfs: The Lost Village — was produced by Sony in 2017. Demi Lovato voiced Smurfette in the film.
Alongside Rihanna, the new Smurfs film features a star-studded voice cast including James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh and Octavia Spencer.
Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña, Kurt Russell and John Goodman are also part of the ensemble.
Smurfs is set to hit theatres on July 18.
