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Donald Glover was recently seen in the Amazon Prime Video seriesMr. & Mrs. Smith, which he co-created along with hisAtlantawriter Francesca Sloane. Glover starred along withPEN15star Maya Erskine in the series which was a remake of the classic Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie starrer of the same name.
While Glover’s show centered around two spies who have to pretend to be a married couple as they go on a mission, Pitt’s film was based on a married couple who discover that they are agents of rival spy agencies during the course of their marriage. Glover mentioned that he had never watched the film when he was first approached and when he did, he was not impressed.
Donald Glover Did Not LikeMr. & Mrs. Smith
Donald Gloverwas known for co-creating the FX showAtlantaand the Prime Video miniseriesSwarm. Glover won two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globed as the creator, director, and star of the surrealist comedy seriesAtlanta. The series had its final season in 2022 and since then, Glover has been busy withSwarmandMr. & Mrs. Smith.
Glover was reportedly approached by New Regency, the production house behind theBrad Pittand Angelina Jolie starrer to remake the film. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he refused as he was not keen on doing remakes. Donald Glover also mentioned that he had never seen the film and was only aware of the scandal between Jolie and Pitt.
“I couldn’t see her yet”: Mr. and Mrs. Smith Showrunner Reveals Reason Behind Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Exit from Donald Glover Led Series After Calling Her a Legend
Donald Glover mentioned that when he found people impressed with the film, he was still convinced that the appeal was only related to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s chemistry. The duo reportedly met and fell in love on the sets of the film, when Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston. This gave rise to many tabloids following the couple everywhere, including reshoots.
Donald Glover mentioned toThe Hollywood Reporterhow he was still convinced that the appeal of the film lay in the lead pair’s image,
“When people are like, ‘I love this movie,’ I’m like, ‘What did you like?’ Not to say that the movie’s necessarily bad, but I think it just had to do with the chemistry and what was happening between them.”
The relationship between Pitt and Jolie was heavily publicized at the time. According toEW, the production had to take extra measures to make sure that the paparazzi would not get their hands on the couple’s moments. The team also reportedly had to be wary of what they said on their walkie-talkies as they were being tuned into by the paparazzi.
“Because they’re really exes”: Mr. & Mrs. Smith Director Originally Wanted Iron Man Star to Replace Angelina Jolie in the Movie
Donald Glover Agreed To RemakeMr. & Mrs. SmithFor One Reason
As mentioned, Donald Glover was not a fan of the movie when he was first approached to helmMr. & Mrs. Smith. The actor mentioned that he watched the film after being approached and he still was not blown away by the film. He recalled that he rang his brother, writer Stephen Glover and mentioned the film,“And then I hit my brother up and was like, ‘What the f*ck is this?’”
Stephen Glover, who co-wrote some episodes ofMr. & Mrs. Smith,mentioned that Donald Glover watched the movie with the wrong perspective and that he only saw it as a ‘date movie.’ Glover recalled to The Hollywood Reporter,
“He’s like, ‘It’s a good date movie. Who cares if they did it well?’ Everybody gets to pretend to be Brad or Angelina, and you go home holding hands like, ‘We’re not a bad team.’ And he’s right.”
“This looks like a winner”: Hideo Kojima Compares Donald Glover’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith to Original Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Movie That Might Green-Light Season 2
But Donald Glover then decided to make the show after centering the storyline on the relationship between the characters. He first collaborated withFleabagcreator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge to co-create and star along with him in the show. But after working on it for a while, the two decided to part ways as they had creative differences.
Glover then reportedly collaborated with hisAtlantaandSwarmco-writer Francesca Sloane to develop the show. Maya Erskine was cast in the role of Jane Smith. The show deviated from the film’s central premise of a married couple discovering that they were spies. Instead, the show put two spies who had never worked with each other to pretend that they were a married couple.
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2416
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
