Separately, Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge have accomplished great things in the movie and TV realms, whether it’s straightforward comedy or more dramatic content. Their professional paths first crossed on Solo: A Star Wars Story, where Glover played Lando Calrissian and Waller-Bridge played the droid L3-37. Now it’s been announced that these two talents are re-teaming for a TV reboot of the 2005 action comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Donald Glover announced the big news on his Instagram Stories, revealing that not only will he and Phoebe Waller-Bridge developing and starring in a Mr. and Mrs. Smith series from Amazon Studios and New Regency, but Francesca Sloane of Atlanta and Fargo fame co-created the project and it’s due out in 2022. You can watch the announcement video below, which was shared by Jennifer Salke, the Head of Amazon Studios.
Amazon later revealed that Francesca Sloane will be the Mr. and Mrs. Smith showrunner, and New Regency's Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer will executive produce, as will Wells Street Films’ Jenny Robins. The series is part of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s overall deal with Amazon, with her series Fleabag being a huge hit for the Amazon Prime Video platform. Glover also already had ties with Amazon through the 2019 movie Guava Island, which he produced and helped hash out the story. There’s no word on how this version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith will specifically differ from the movie that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the original Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it followed John and Jane Smith, an upper class couple whose marriage has been on the rocks. Making things even weirder is that they are both assassins who have kept their true professions secret from one another. However, when the competing agencies they respectively work assign them to kill each other, following a destructive skirmish, John and Jane decide to put aside their differences and fight back against the assassins subsequently sent to eliminate them.
While Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s critical reception rested in more mixed territory, it was commercially successful, making over $487 million worldwide off an $110 million budget. While there was talk of having Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reunite for a sequel, nothing ultimately came from those conversations, and considering that the two actors are now separated in their personal lives, one could logically infer that such a project is unquestionably off the table for good. Now it’s Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s turn to leave their stamp on Mr. and Mrs. Smith over at Amazon across a lot more than a two-hour runtime.
We’ll keep you updated on how Mr. and Mrs. Smith is progressing as more news comes in, but it’s not the only thing you have to look forward to from these two. Donald Glover is still working on FX’s Atlanta and reportedly renewed his deal with FX Productions last year, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge is one of the co-writers on the next James Bond movie, No Time to Die.
