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Rihanna is officially making her return to music with new songs featured in the upcoming Smurfs movie. The film’s trailer confirms that Rihanna will contribute to the soundtrack, which will also include a cover of Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Heaven Is a Place on Earth’. The movie is set for release on July 18, with the soundtrack expected to drop around the same time.
In addition to providing new music, Rihanna will voice Smurfette and serve as a producer under her full name, Robyn Rihanna Fenty. The film follows the Smurfs on a quest to rescue Papa Smurf from evil wizards. The star-studded cast also includes Nick Offerman, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, and Kurt Russell.
This marks Rihanna’s first new music since ‘Lift Me Up’ from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. The singer, who also headlined the Super Bowl halftime show last year, is making her long-awaited return to both the big screen and the music scene.
While it’s not a full Rihanna album, it’s still something—both Pharrell and Justin Timberlake have scored No. 1 hits from animated movie soundtracks, with “Happy” from Despicable Me 2 and “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” from Trolls, respectively.