Exclusive: Mr. & Mrs. Smith sequel never happened due to lack of a strong plot

Mr. & Mrs. Smith has to be one of the biggest movies never to get a sequel. Having grossed nearly $500 million worldwide, a follow-up would have seemed like a no-brainer. Filmed during happier times for the now divorced Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the movie starred the gorgeous pair as sexy married spies who think their occupations are secret from their unknowing spouse. Assigned to kill each other, when they start fighting, they find the spark their marriage has been missing, and they team up to take on their crooked handlers.

According to the movie’s writer, Simon Kinberg, whom I spoke to recently via Zoom, there was a notion to do a sequel, but no one could figure out how to follow up the relatively close-ended story. “The strength of the first movie is it’s a love story; they are, you know, falling back in love with each other or in love for the first time in a genuine way. And to tell a love story, to serialize a love story is very hard. Because no matter what you do in the second movie, sure, they could be partners and spies and bickering together, but you wouldn’t actually have the arc of two people who are falling in love.”

After experimenting with various plot points, including having them partner up or get separated, the sequel idea was abandoned. While it never happened, a Mr. & Mrs. Smith series for Prime Video starring Donald Glover is set to launch soon. Director Doug Liman is also dipping his toes back into action films, shooting the highly anticipated Road House remake with Jake Gyllenhaal, which recently nabbed an R-rating. Meanwhile, Simon Kinberg’s Apple Plus show, Invasion, is wrapping its second season. Check it out – it’s a hidden gem.