New ‘Smurfs’ Movie Will Be Live Action. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid. Is nothing from our childhoods sacred? The prospect of a movie based on the ancient and well-regarded cartoon The Smurfs was hardly something that had filled us with joy. It made hecklerspray let out a trademark sigh as we looked forward to another summer of movies single-handedly decimating the best years of our lives. But this week the news suddenly became plain ridiculous, when it was revealed the upcoming Smurfs movie, apparently still in the works even though everyone had forgotten about it, will be - wait for it - live action.