As the folks at Moviefone.com point out, blue is the hot color for movies these days, especially if your name is James Cameron. Well, it's not going to be a sequel to 'Avatar' or another Cameron pic or even an updating of 'The Blue Lagoon,' but Neil Patrick Harris has agreed to be in 'Smurfs: The Movie.' (Not to be confused with 'Smurfs: The Opera.')

Actually, Neil will be all voice for the role. Sony's concept for the big screen version of 'Smurfs,' the popular '80s Saturday morning cartoon series, is live action mixed with animation, under the direction of 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua' auteur Raja Gosnell.

Exactly which of the smurfs Neil will play remains shrouded in mystery. I suspect he's getting his pick, as long as it's not Papa Smurf. That role's already been claimed by Jonathan Winters.

[UPDATE: There seems to be some contradictory info out there. NPH will be voicing a Smurf in the movie according to most sources. He is appearing as a human, according to Cinematical. I'd say it might be wise to wait for more info before losing any sleep over this. It's the Smurfs, after all. Let's have some fun and remember it's just a movie.]

Hmm ... since the smurfs are "simple archetypes of everyday people," according to Wikipedia, perhaps Neil could be a new smurf entirely -- Dr. Horrible Smurf, Barney Smurf, Song and Dance Man Smurf? The possibilities are infinite!

While all of this seems sound and true, it should be noted that Deadine.com broke this 'Smurfs' news. Normally, that's a pretty good source, but just the other day, Nikki Finke's column claimed that Neil Patrick Harris and Martin Short would be at the Oscars Sunday night doing an opening number. NPH tweeted the next morning that Finke's info was wrong.

If the 'Smurfs: The Movie' story is on target, Neil would begin shooting in April, after 'How I Met Your Mother' was off for the summer hiatus.