Tim Gunn Makes It Work For 'The Smurfs'

Casting for The Smurfs keeps getting more and more erratic. We saw Hank Azaria as Gargamel last weekend, and the ensemble already includes Neil Patrick Harris, Sofia Vergara, John Oliver, Katy Perry, George Lopez, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, Anton Yelchin, Jeff Foxworthy, Wolfgang Puck and Jonathan Winters. Now add another name to the list. Tim Gunn from Project Runway has signed up for the 3-D live-action/animation hybrid. Smurfs is already shooting in New York, and I guess I understand why Sony's pushing this to be the combo; Alvin and the Chipmunks is big business, and where there's a formula to follow, the studios will do just that. Entertainment Weekly reports that Gunn will play "an executive assistant at a cosmetics company" in the film, which pretty much equates to a glorified cameo. In fact, a lot of these names seem like walk-ons to me. Of course, it's hard to knock this movie for any of these moves because it's not like they're trying to make No Country for Old Men here. Le scénario:

“The movie will follow the diminutive blue people as they flee from their village after Gargamel locates it. They slip away through a magical portal and land smack in the middle of New York City’s Central Park. With Gargamel close behind, the Smurfs must find a way home before the wizard catches up with them.”

Smurfs is part of a bigger August than normal next year, joining Spielberg's War Horse, the Ryan Reynolds comedy The Change-Up, and 30 Minutes or less from Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer.