Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Donald Glover Team for ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ Series at Amazon

Kristen Lopez
·3 min read
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Buckle up: Fleabag and Childish Gambino are prepping a new project.

Friday afternoon, “Atlanta” star Donald Glover dropped a video on his Instagram, wherein he starts to dance to Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, of “Fleabag” fame, looks unimpressed. As she gets up to do a seductive dance of her own, the reveal is that the two will be teaming up for a property titled “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

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Little more is known about the project, short of the stars, participation from Amazon Studios and New Regency, and that it’s co-created by Francesca Sloane, a producer on the FX series “Fargo” and writer on Hulu’s short-lived space drama, “The First.”

Update:

Amazon confirmed the series announcement in a press release, providing further details on the future production and initial conception of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the TV show.

Glover and Waller-Bridge will co-create and star in the Amazon Prime series, and also serve as executive producers, with co-creator and executive producer Francesca Sloane serving as showrunner. Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer of New Regency and Jenny Robins from Wells Street Films will also be executive producers. The series will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.

“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,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “‘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.”

The new series is based on the 2005 Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie action flick of the same name, which was produced by New Regency. The two stars play married spies, unaware of each other’s professions, who discover their warring companies want the other dead. The movie was controversial, at the time, as Pitt and Jolie fell in love and eventually married creating a tabloid extravaganza.

“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. & Mrs. Smith,’ we jumped at the chance to get going right away,” Milchan and Schaefer said in a statement. “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.”

Both Waller-Bridge and Glover have become not just established actors but creatives with creds in screenwriting and content creation. “Fleabag” was a major Emmys darling in its second season, and the actress recently did work on the script for the latest James Bond feature, “No Time to Die,” scheduled for release later this year. Waller-Bridge signed a $20 million dollar deal with Amazon back in 2019 off the success of her show.

Glover himself recently announced the arrival of the third season of his FX series, “Atlanta,” and drew rave reviews for his performance as Lando Calrissian in the “Star Wars” franchise.

Francesca Sloane is currently under an overall at Amazon Studios, where she is also developing a series based on Anais Nin’s erotic fiction.

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” is slated for release on Amazon sometime in 2022.

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