20 years after starring in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Angelina Jolie is teaming up with director Doug Liman again for a new spy thriller movie. The 2005 film, which also featured Brad Pitt, was a commercial hit that made $487 million worldwide. It later inspired a 2024 Prime Video show starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Jolie and Liman are now reuniting for The Initiative, which is being described as “Training Day set in the world of spycraft.” Jolie’s character will be a rogue spy known as Bright. She takes a new agent named Charlie under her wing, but Charlie doesn’t know if she wants to murder him or is simply doing what is needed in the world of espionage.

The script is being written by F. Scott Frazier, whose prior credits include xXx: Return of Xander Cage. Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum of RK Films, who previously worked on Netflix’s Damsel and the rom-com Anyone But You, are attached to produce. Universal Studios and the creative team are looking to begin production in the first quarter of 2026.

What This Means For The Initiative

The Initiative is major news for Jolie and Liman, who proved two decades ago with Mr. & Mrs. Smith that they could deliver an entertaining and commercially successful spy thriller. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is still one of Angelina Jolie’s best movies, and she now has an opportunity to replicate that success in her reunion with Liman.

Jolie has done other action movies without Liman as well, including Wanted, Salt, and The Tourist, but all of those films were released between 2008-2010. The Initiative is now poised to be Jolie’s high-profile return to this genre. With production potentially beginning in early 2026, Jolie’s return to the action genre is a priority for Universal.

One significant difference between Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Initiative is that the upcoming movie seems like it will be more of a drama than an action-comedy story. This is because of the parallels to Training Day, which is a crime thriller drama. It sounds like Jolie’s Bright will be this movie’s version of Denzel Washington’s Alonzo Harris, while Charlie will be the equivalent of Ethan Hawke’s Jake Hoyt.

Our Take On The Initiative

Many of Angelina Jolie’s best performances have been in the action and spy thriller genres, which makes me excited to see her reteaming with Liman for The Initiative. It feels like a fitting project and reunion for their respective careers, and I look forward to seeing how they have evolved as an actor and director.

Just as with Mr. & Mrs. Smith and with Training Day, the dynamic between the two central characters will be vital to the movie’s success. I’m intrigued to see who will be cast as Charlie opposite Angelina Jolie’s Bright and how their chemistry will compare to some of her past films.