Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation will be bringing a live-action/animated version of the Smurfs to the big screen (think Alvin and the Chipmunks). David Stem and David Weiss, who wrote the second and third installments in the Shrek franchise, are in negotiations to write the screenplay.

The Smurfs are best known in the United States for the long running Hanna-Barbera cartoon that ran as part of NBC’s Saturday morning lineup from 1981-1990. However, the Smurfs were actually created in 1958 by a Belgian cartoonist named Pierre Culliford (known as Peyo). The Smurfs, who were originally called “Les Schtroumpfs” in French, were created as minor characters for a series of Belgian comic books. The little villagers, known for their blue skin and small statures, eventually became popular themselves and spawned a lucrative line of toys, games, statuettes and even theme park rides.

“The Smurfs are one of the best-known franchises, and among the most beloved collection of characters in the world,” Columbia co-president Doug Belgrad said. “We’re very excited to introduce a new generation to Papa Smurf, Smurfette and the other smurftastic Smurfs in all of their ‘three-apple-tall’ glory.”

No timeline has been set for the project.

Beowulf

Beowulf was generally considered pretty decent, but it was shown in theaters with 3D effects, so there is no telling how much it loses being shown on a regular screen. I have to think seeing it in high definition will be pretty great anyways, so I kind of want to see it.

Oh yeah, it’s not even out on Blu-Ray, only HD-DVD…eat that haters! *grin*

Of course, I’m just hoping it’s out on Direct TV HD PPV sometime soon.

NFL Super Bowl XLII – New York Giants Championship DVD

Hmmm, this was an awesome game, and I expect mostly Giants fans will be buying this DVD. The sad part is that there is no HD counterpart yet, so after most of us saw the game in glorious high-def, who is going to watch the DVD?

It is actually in widescreen format, so that is at least a bonus.

30 Days of Night

The one film I could actually see myself watching this weekend from the bunch released today would be 30 Days of Night. Starring Josh Hartnett, you have a vampire movie set in a remote Alaskan town where suddenly they are cast into a month long darkness which isn’t anything out of the ordinary if you live there.

Without sunlight to stop them, vampires wreck havoc on the town.

I’ve started getting into scary movies a bit more lately, so I kind of want to check this out just for the fun of it.

Newhart and Smurfs

Are you kidding me? Smurfs: Season 1, Volume 1 is out on DVD? I honestly don’t know if I could watch it, but it might be extremely entertaining to see how what I liked as a kid is pretty ridiculous now.

Along with that is another TV series, Newhart – The Complete First Season . Now, I love Bob Newhart and think he’s one of the funniest people who ever lived, so this could be a great addition to your collection.

Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral actually has some good reviews on IMDB and Amazon, and I heard it was pretty funny. I’d like to see it for the fact that the guy from Pride and Prejudice is in it, plus Alan Tudyk from Firefly.

And here are the rest:

Other DVDs (482 total titles released)

• Goya’s Ghosts – Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem, from 2006…interesting, never heard of this one but might need to see it.
• Extras: The Extra Special Finale – I still need to watch this entire series sometime
• The Darjeeling Unlimited – Unique comedy with Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman from the creators of Rushmore.

Blu-ray (7 total titles released)

• 30 Days of Night (Sony)
• Initial D (Tai Seng)
• Justice League: The New Frontier (Warner)
• Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (Warner)
• Over America In High Definition (Topics)
• Over California In High Definition (Topics)
• To Kill a King (Starz)