Since the last week that the Smurfs movie was alive and well, the big question on everyone’s mind as been: Why? Seriously, why? It’s a franchise that went cold two-decades ago. Nobody cares about the Smurfs, do they?

Ed Douglas over at ComingSoon may have the explanation we’ve been looking for. He caught up with the impending Smurf movie’s producer Jordon Kerner at a recent junket for Charlotte’s Web where the “why” question was asked. Kerner’s answer? Blame the Australians.

He says, “There's a big Smurf demand [there], they love the blue fellas and the one blue girl."

So they’re not making the movie because they have some amazing story idea. It’s not because they’re huge fans of the series. It’s not because making a Smurf movie is some sort of lifelong dream. They’re making it because there’s money to be made off of it in Australia. At least he’s honest. That’s kind of refreshing. Most producers would have come up with some pre-fabricated spiel about how much they love little blue men.

I hope they’re keeping the budget down. Australia’s a big country, but it’s not exactly well populated.

For more from Kerner on smurfing movies, check out CS.