The much-loved movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” returns to the big screen. Created by actor and musician Donald Glover and screenwriter Francesca Sloane, the eight-episode series is a recreation of the characters played by popular actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie nearly two decades ago.
Donald Glover: The last parts of the movie seem very similar to the 2005 movie. But it’s actually very different. We also had much more time to do more things.
Also titled ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’, the series focuses on Glover and actor Maya Erskine who take part in a special selection process to find work at an international espionage agency who must stage a fictitious marriage to cover their occupations Theirs.
Their story becomes even more complicated when they start to have real feelings for each other. What is more dangerous: a spy mission or marriage?
This story is a bit like the movie of John and Jane Smith, whose marriage is not in the best of days.
Although married for years, they are two assassins working for different firms, both of the best in their field, who have long hidden from each other their true professions.
As in the old film, this new cinematic project focuses on human relationships.
Donald Glover: I wanted to make a movie about relationships because I think I’ve entered a stage in my life where I want to have more conversations about relationships. So it was a pleasure to make this film.
Before the release of the series, the screenwriter wrote an open letter to fans of the film who questioned the need for a remake of the film.
Francesca Sloane: Nowadays we’re really kind of an interactive community and in that sense, and I wanted to be very realistic about where these doubts were coming from. There are 10 billion remakes of this movie, but we really tried to do something different.
As the Smiths take on missions in stunning destinations like Lake Como and the Dolomites, they begin to have feelings for each other and discover that relationships and marriage sometimes require more commitment than their secret missions.
Movies from the 70s and reality shows served as inspiration for the team of screenwriters.
Francesca Sloane: We were very inspired by 70s movies. We also watched a lot of thriller movies and stuff like that. Another inspiration were reality shows about love and marriage. We feel like lonely people are everywhere and we wanted to talk to them.
One of the main themes discussed in this film is loneliness.
Francesca Sloane: I really wanted to focus on the humanization, on the loneliness of people, on why people do things the way they do because they’re lonely. And after all, it’s also a love story. It is truly a love story.
For actress Maya Erskine, shooting action scenes was something new for her and it came a year after she welcomed her first child.
Maya Erskine: It was fun. I didn’t expect it to be so much fun, but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed doing all the action scenes. It was really beautiful. And, you know what. It made me feel stronger.
Filming on Glover’s series began in the summer of 2022 and was slated for release later that year. The series was pushed back to November 2023, but due to Hollywood protests it was pushed back again.
However, the producers of the film have the date when this cinematographic project will be ready for the public. ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ will be released on Prime Video next month on the 2nd.