Prime Video has announced today that their eagerly-awaited Mr. & Mrs. Smith series will debut on February 2, 2024; with all eight episodes set to launch on the same day, exclusively on their Prime Video streaming service in over 240 countries and territories globally.
The upcoming series is a modern-day reimagining of the 2005 film of the same name and will star 2x Primetime Emmy-winner Donald Glover (Community; Atlanta) and 3x Primetime Emmy-nominee Maya Erskine (PEN15; Obi-Wan Kenobi) in the title roles as John and Jane Smith, respectively.
However, while same in name, it sounds like this new version will be considerably different than the action-thriller that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, as the show's synopsis reads, "In this version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, two lonely strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travels, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?"
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, leading man Glover, who also co-created the series with Francesca Stone, says "It's definitely going to be different for a lot of people, which I think is good. 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.'"
Glover admits he hadn't seen the original Doug Liman-directed film until a friend of his acquired the rights, but still had had a somewhat mixed reaction upon first viewing. "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?'" Despite his initial response to the picture, an idea sparked in the back of his head, which eventually became the basis of this series that he hopes is a little more relatable than the previous iteration.
"Why do people even get married anymore? Half of it ends in divorce — what's the purpose? 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."
With a premiere date set, we should probably expect a full-length trailer in the not-so-distant future, so keep an eye on CBM for the latest!
Check out the first-look images below:
In this version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, two lonely strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travels, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan. The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?