When Atlanta’s Donald Glover called Francesca Sloane suggesting they co-create a series inspired by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s hit 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sloane wasn’t sure it would work. “But then he explained the idea of taking something that is such a saturated genre and subverting it,” she says. “That felt absolutely intriguing.”
The result is eight episodes of what Sloane calls “a remix” featuring Glover and Pen15’s Maya Erskine as John and Jane Smith. “We focus on the quieter moments,” she says, while promising there will still be elements from the film: “shoot-’em-ups and really exciting action.”
That includes the pair’s “clumsy, horrific” attempts at disassembling a body—no wonder, like their movie counterparts, the partners go to counseling! Here are three more things to watch for when Prime Video‘s Mr. & Mrs. Smith debuts on February 2.
1. Despite lots of nods to the original, the series switches up the movie’s premise.
These Smiths are not unhappily married when we meet them. They’re new hires that a mysterious agency orders to play husband and wife while undertaking dangerous kill missions.
“We really wanted them to be strangers so that we can see the entire relationship unfold in front of our eyes,” Sloane explains. “That way, you’re seeing two people learn to be vulnerable when real feelings come into play as they face daily life-and-death situations.”
2. The Smiths don’t know if they’re working on the side of good or evil.
“We want our audience to be asking that along with them,” says Sloane. “[We’ll learn] why they’re wired to be professional assassins and spies.”
3. When their assigned targets turn out to be each other, they don’t just say no.
Despite their pact not to fall for each other, “their personal stakes really escalate,” Sloane says. “But at the same time, they are professionals, they have a job to do and they don’t want to fail at anything”—especially when it comes to taking out the person they love!
Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Premieres Friday, February 2, Prime Video