Prime Video’s reimagining of Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring Donald Glover (Atlanta, Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story) as John Smith and Maya Erskine (PEN15, Sully Stark in Obi-Wan Kenobi series) as Jane Smith will arrive in February 2nd, 2024, and Glover states the 8-part series will be more relatable that the 2005 film. Glover spoke to EW about the upcoming series…
“It’s definitely going to be different for a lot of people, which I think is good,” Glover tells EW of his eight-episode Prime Video series. “You can always go back and watch the old one, but this one gives you a different feeling. People are definitely going to be shocked. I just know how much people love the other one, so if everybody’s like, ‘Eh,’ we didn’t do a good job. I hope some people are like, ‘This is better than the original,’ and some people are like, ‘This is far worse.'”
Co-created by Glover and Francesca Sloane (Atlanta, Fargo), Mr. & Mrs. Smith stars Glover and Maya Erskine (Pen15) as the titular spy couple. But this isn’t a remake of Pitt and Jolie’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith — while the movie centered on a married couple realizing they’re both spies working for rival agencies who have been hired to kill each other, this is a completely different story about two lonely strangers who sign up for a mysterious spy agency, unaware their new identities are a package deal as a married couple. As they complete high-risk missions together, their arranged marriage slowly becomes something more real. But can they ever really trust each other if their entire relationship is built on lies?
“I had never seen the movie, which I know was sacrilege,” Glover admits. But when a producer friend of his acquired the rights to the film, he finally gave it a shot. “I watched it and honestly, I was like, ‘I don’t understand it.’ I mean, I get why it’s iconic because of the people starring in it — it’s just two gorgeous people in this situation. But the story I didn’t quite understand. I called my brother and he was like, ‘This is just a great date movie. It’s boys vs. girls. What else do you want?'”
Glover wished it explored something deeper, which is why he began thinking about doing a TV reimagining that would tackle modern ideas of marriage and relationships. “Why do people even get married anymore? Half of it ends in divorce — what’s the purpose?” Glover says. “Let’s make a show dealing with relationships, but from this point of view, centering more on really what a marriage is and trust and teamwork and loneliness and all that stuff. I just wanted it to be something that spoke to people right now because in a time of abundance, why do we feel lonely? The movie wasn’t about that.”
Sloane previously worked with Glover on his FX series Atlanta, and when he pitched her his idea for a new Mr. & Mrs. Smith, she actually thought he was joking. “He has a really odd sense of humor and that felt like a very odd choice for us to do,” Sloane tells EW with a laugh. “But once we talked further about the take that we would do, it made total sense and I got really excited. 2020 really affected the way that we were viewing relationships, and we started to realize the things that really mattered when something like that is happening to the world is love and trust and a comfortable nest to take care of that love. In terms of John and Jane, how do you have a foundation of trust when what you’re best at is being a good spy and being an expert liar? How are you then vulnerable with each other at home if what makes you strong at your job requires a lot of distrust?”
Read the interview in full here with more new images, and mark your calendar for February 2nd, 2024, on Amazon Prime.
