MUMBAI: After its robust $35 million opening weekend haul, Sony Pictures is closer to the second edition of The Smurfs to be produced by Jordan Kerner.

Now, the studio has gone ahead and set a date for the release of the sequel on 2 August, 2013. However the studio didn‘t reveal the fact that it had been working on a script for months and has a completed draft in hand.

Earlier this year, when the film began taking the form of a viable franchise launcher, Sony went to its original writers to begin work on a sequel.

The early assignment was due to the large amount of lead-time required for live action/CG hybrids.