When we spent the last few years begging on our knees for new music from Rihanna, I guess we had to be a little more specific about what we meant. However, the singer revealed at CinemaCon that she will be trying her hand at voice-acting in the role of Smurfette in the upcoming Smurfs movie, and is reportedly writing original music for the film. I mean, we were kind of hoping for R9, but honestly we'll take whatever morsels of music we can get.

The forthcoming Paramount Animation film will be a follow-up to 2011's The Smurfs (which starred Katy Perry as Smurfette) and 2017's Smurfs: The Lost Village (that saw Demi Lovato take on the role of Smurfette), with Rihanna next in line to pick up the baton. Rihanna is also set to produce the film.

Smurfs will not the first time Rihanna has lent her vocal chops to a film either, having recently written and performed Lift Me Up, recorded for the blockbuster Marvel sequel Black Panther:Wakanda Forever. The single even saw the songstress nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. But this will be the first time she has taken part in an animated film, which she says has been a joy.

“Getting to do animation is a fun journey for me,” Rihanna said in an interview with IndieWire. “I’m usually front and centre with everything with my likeness… but this was fun, I got to imagine, I got to show up in my pajamas in my third trimester, and be a blue badass.”

When will the film be released?

The as-yet-untitled new Smurfs film is set to be released on 14 February 2025 (Valentine's Day). So we unfortunately still have a while yet until we get to hear some fresh Ri-Ri tunes. Maybe there's hope yet that we'll get that elusive new album between now and then.

Images: one.