Inspired by the 2005 film of the same name, the Prime Video series will launch all eight episodes on Feb. 2.
There's a new John and Jane Smith, and they're even more dysfunctional than their predecessors.
On Tuesday, Prime Video released the first trailer for its adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. The TV series is a new take on the 2005 film that starred Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, with a twist on the film's original premise.
The original Mr. & Mrs. Smith featured a married pair of spies, and it followed Jane and John as they realized they were both spies working for rival agencies who had been hired to kill each other. In this version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, two strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, 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. The series asks the question: what's riskier, espionage or marriage?
In addition to Glover and Erskine, the series also stars Parker Posey, Wagner Moura, Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Paul Dano, Alexander Skarsgård, Sarah Paulson, Ron Perlman, Eiza Gonzalez, Sharon Horgan, Ursula Corbero, and Billy Campbell.
"It's definitely going to be different for a lot of people, which I think is good," Glover shared with Entertainment Weekly in November. "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.'"
"Angelina and Brad are untouchable in that you can't recreate that, and Donald and I are just so different so it felt exciting to play a couple that you might recognize as your friends or yourselves," Erskine added. "You could see yourself in these characters, but they're spies. They've created an analogy for relationships against the backdrop of this espionage thriller, so it has all the intricacies and nuance and flaws of a real relationship story, but with life or death stakes. What people will be surprised about is that this show is really about marriage."
Glover wears multiple hats on the series: the Atlanta creator co-created the show alongside Francesca Sloane and serves as a producer as well as a star. Mr. & Mrs. Smith marks Glover's latest project with Prime Video following the satirical comedy horror series Swarm.
Hiro Murai, who collaborated with Glover on his 2019 Prime Video film Guava Island and the "This is America" music video, directed the first two episodes of Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
When the series was announced in February 2021, Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge was attached to the role of Jane Smith. The next year, Glover announced that Erskine would take over the role in an interview with himself for Interview Magazine.
"I still like her. I assume she still likes me," Glover responded to himself when asked if they remained friends, confirming previous reports that Waller-Bridge amicably exited the role due to creative differences. He added of Erskine, "She's dope. It's exciting. I really love the show."
Mr. & Mrs. Smith will premiere all eight episodes on Prime Video Feb. 2, 2024.
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