Phoebe Waller-Bridge will no longer be working on Amazon’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith series with Donald Glover, who remains attached as co-creator, executive producer and star.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Waller-Bridge, who originally signed on in the same roles as Glover, “had a different creative vision for the series” than the Atlanta star, but sources say the pair remain friends and her departure from the project was amicable. Her role will now be recast, with the series still on track to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.
The initial idea for the series is said to have been conceived by Glover who is still on board alongside Francesca Sloane who is serving as co-creator, showrunner and executive producer. New Regency’s Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer are also billed as executive producers on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, with production on the series expected to begin next year.
Writing is currently underway on the series, which will act as a reboot to Doug Liman’s 2005 action comedy film of the same name, which famously starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The movie followed the explosive adventures of a married couple after discovering that they’re both assassins working for adversarial espionage agencies.
Waller-Bridge, Glover and Sloane all have overall deals at Amazon. Glover signed his eight-figure deal with Amazon this year and immediately started staffing a writers room for a potential new series called Hive, rumored to revolve around a Beyoncé-like figure. He’s also in post-production on the third season of FX’s Atlanta, while the fourth season is in production.
Meanwhile, Waller-Bridge is currently working on Indiana Jones 5. The movie recently added Antonio Banderas to the cast alongside previously-announced stars Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Renée Wilson, and Harrison Ford who is returning as the franchise’s titular globe-trotting archaeologist, with James Mangold directing.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.