America, you must now reap what you sowed. The Smurfs is standing tall at the box office, with $128 million worldwide after just 2 weeks in release, despite the fact that it was critically loathed and is a blatant, pandering attempt to mine the 80s for nostalgic cash. America, you saw this movie and made it a hit, and now you've convinced them to make a sequel. According to Variety's Jeff Sneider, Sony has set a release date of August 3, 2012 for The Smurfs 2, snagging itself the first confirmed release date for the last month of that summer movie season.
That'll put Smurfs 2 out in theaters just a week after the planned July 26 release of Thor 2, and even more importantly, a solid month after the Despicable Me sequel scheduled for July 3. There's no word on any actors, voice or otherwise, set to return for the film, though given that they've managed to wrangle Jason Lee for the seemingly endless series of Alvin and the Chipmunks, Neil Patrick Harris might want to get busy filling up his schedule so he can bow out of this gracefully when Sony comes knocking. Katy Perry, on the other hand, seems to have enjoyed this red carpet opportunity so much that she probably won't mind returning for another round as Smurfette.
For more on The Smurfs and why you should be very, very ashamed of having allowed things to go this far, read Eric's review of the movie and hang your head in shame. And despite my opening paragraph, it's not just America's fault-- the movie has grossed nearly as much overseas as it has on these shores. We all have a lot to reckon with today.
