The reboot of the popular 2005 film will stream on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.
On February 12, two of TV’s favourite stars, Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Atlanta’s Donald Glover, were revealed be starring in a rebooted version of Mr and Mrs Smith. The new series, a modern take on the 2005 film starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, will stream on Amazon Prime Video and is set to be released in 2022.
The exciting news was announced through an Instagram video, shared by Glover, Waller-Bridge, and Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. As well as starring in the series, Waller-Bridge and Glover are also involved in creating and executive producing alongside Fransesca Sloane (whom Glover has worked with previously in Atlanta) and New Regency, the same company in charge of the original film. Salke spoke highly of their collaboration:
“Talk about the dream team! Donald and Phoebe are two of the most talented creators and performers in the world. It’s truly a dream for us, as it will be for our global audience, to have these two forces of nature collaborating as a powerhouse creative team,” she said. “Mr. and Mrs. Smith is an iconic property, and we can’t wait to see how Donald, Phoebe and Francesca make it their own. We’re thrilled to be working with them, and with such great partners at New Regency.”
It’s not the first time Glover has partnered with Amazon Prime Video. His short film Guava Island premiered on the platform in 2019, featuring Glover as main character Deni, alongside Rihanna as Kofi. The film also debuted its own soundtrack, with various songs performed by Glover as his five-time Grammy-award winning musical alter-ego, Childish Gambino.
Waller-Bridge is also no stranger to Amazon Prime Video, having collaborated with them on both the Fleabag TV series and in the release of the National Theatre live-recorded stage show, and as the writer of the debut series of Emmy-winning spy-thriller Killing Eve, Waller-Bridge is also no stranger to Mr. and Mrs. Smith‘s genre or tone.
Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer of New Regency also released a statement on this new partnership:
“Having had the pleasure of successful collaborations with the incredibly talented Donald Glover, most recently on Guava Island, we all started talking about other projects to do together, and when he suggested the idea of a new take and iteration on the New Regency film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, we jumped at the chance to get going right away. Adding Phoebe and her company, Wells Street Films, as a collaborator and co-star takes everything up another level and makes the project worthy of a reimagining for both new audiences and past fans of the original film. We are so excited to be working with Donald, Phoebe, Francesca and the entire team at Amazon Studios.”
Words by Sofia Ferreira Santos