Donald Glover recently wrapped up FX’s Atlanta and co-created Amazon’s conversation-starting Swarm, and he’s about to star in Amazon’s reboot of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which looks to be far beyond the confines of the blockbuster action-romance-comedy flick starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Since Glover is involved, do not expect this to be a straightforward retelling of the film, but do expect to be able to binge the entire first season in one weekend. Amazon actually plans to release all eight episodes (co-starring Maya Erskine of PEN 15 and Blue Eye Samurai) in one go on February 2, 2024. Will it get you into the Valentine’s Day mood? Perhaps not.
Yes, the basic set-up of this series will also involve two secret assassins who are married, but in this story, they are arrange-hitched by their joint spy agency. They are rich and worldly and bored and lonely as hell, and oh damn, this sure looks like a worthwhile rewrite. As Glover told Entertainment Weekly, he wasn’t too taken with the film, so he’s turning marriage on its head:
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.”
Phoebe Waller-Bridge was originally planned to co-star with Glover, but she dropped out, and Maya Erskine (who co-writes here) stepped up to fill those assassin shoes. The film will also co-star Michaela Coel, John Turturro, and Paul Dano.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)