Neil Patrick Harris to Star in ‘The Smurfs’

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Neil Patrick Harris will star in Sony’s The Smurfs. The film will be a mix of live-action and animation, and Harris will play the lead ‘human’.

Neil Patrick Harris has a TV-heavy resume. Now he’s just landed the lead in Smurfs: The Movie for Sony. Harris won’t have to walk around as a blue-tinted Avatar, either. The Raja Gosnell-directed film is a mix of live action and animation, and Harris is the lead live action character.

I remember enjoying The Smurfs cartoon as a child. I’m interested to see what kind of story we’ll see. Will all the characters from the cartoon make an appearance? Will we see something similar to Alvin and The Chipmunks? I like Harris’ dry humor, but I’m not sure how well this movie will do. Filming is set to begin in April and the film is shooting for a release date of July 29, 2011.