The curious case of the forthcoming Smurf movie has its first piece of casting, giving the film a much needed shot of interest.

Neil Patrick Harris has played Horrible Doctors and fascist scientists, as well as garnering praise for his role in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, so it is with a slight sense of ‘Wha?’ we learn that he is returning to the big screen as a human character in a world full of Smurfs, according to Deadline Hollywood.

We’ve already seen a leaked shot of what the CG Smurfs will look like, you can find that here, and there’s every good chance that Harris will be at his likeable best, and not be taking up the role as Gargamel (which would actually be great).

As has recently been proved, nostalgic types and their kids will flock to revitalised updates of their own childhood favourites but even Bill Murray couldn’t save Garfield from itself. Hopefully Harris will bring his quirk/charm combo to the film, and maybe, just maybe, he’ll make this one worth watching.