Amazon’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is in the market for a new leading lady.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge has exited the straight-to-series adaptation of the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film. Sources say that the Fleabag Emmy winner had a different creative vision for the series than Donald Glover, with whom she was poised to star.
Glover, who came up with the idea and brought it to his friend and Solo: A Star Wars Story co-star, remains attached as co-creator, exec producer and star. Francesca Sloane, a collaborator with Glover on FX’s Atlanta, remains co-creator, showrunner and exec producer on the series via her overall deal with Amazon. Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer from New Regency — the shingle behind the 2005 film — also exec produce.
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Sources say Waller-Bridge and Glover remain friends following what was described as an amicable split. Waller-Bridge’s role will now be recast, and the series remains on track for a 2022 debut. Writing on the series is currently underway, with production expected to also begin next year.
The news comes seven months after the teaming of the two Emmy winners for the update of the action-thriller created a frenzy on social media.
Waller-Bridge is currently in production on Indiana Jones 5 and recently contributed to the script of the upcoming James Bond film, No Time to Die. She also exec produces the upcoming final season of AMC/BBC America’s Killing Eve.
Glover is in postproduction on the third season of FX’s Atlanta and is in production on the fourth season, having written all of the scripts himself. The third season of the Emmy-winning comedy is expected to return in the first half of 2022, with season four possibly months afterward.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith stems from an overall deal that Glover signed with Amazon in February. Under the deal, Glover is also working on Hive, a potential series that is rumored to revolve around a Beyoncé-like figure and stem from writer Janine Nabers (Watchmen, Away). The project has already begun staffing a writers room, with sources noting earlier this year that Malia Obama was among those recruited to work on the series.
Waller-Bridge continues to also be based at Amazon with a rich pact of her own as she develops other projects for the retailer/streamer.
