The Big Little Lies news comes shortly after it was reported that season two of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which Sloane co-created with Donald Glover, has been delayed indefinitely at Prime Video. But Sloane abandoning ship for HBO is reportedly an effect, and not the cause, of the delay. Deadline claims that casting issues are responsible for putting the series on pause. And since the show was on pause, when Sloane went to renegotiate her overall with Amazon “the proposed financial terms are said to have been below her previous pact,” per the outlet. Thus, Sloane apparently went out to find herself a better deal, and wound up at HBO working on one of its crown jewels.
Star and executive producer Nicole Kidman first began hinting at a Big Little Lies return in 2023; her co-EP Reese Witherspoon and fellow liars Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz have all expressed a desire to reunite. TV legend David E. Kelley wrote the first two seasons based on the book by Liane Moriarty (who shares a “story by” credit with Kelley for the second season). Deadline reports Moriarty has supposedly written a sequel to the novel due to be published in 2026, which will allegedly feature a time jump and see the mothers of Monterey parenting teenagers. HBO had reportedly launched an “extensive search” for a new writer (Kelley will remain on as an EP), but hadn’t landed on anyone when Sloane came looking around for a better offer. Everybody wins!
Except, of course, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which is now in limbo, which is sort of the show’s default state. The series was originally announced in 2021 as a collaboration between Sloane, Glover, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. But in 2022, Waller-Bridge dropped out and was eventually replaced as a star by Maya Erskine. After this rocky development period Mr. & Mrs. Smith finally premiered in 2024 to critical acclaim and Emmy nominations. It was later reported Anora‘s Mark Eydelshteyn and Yellowjackets‘ Sophie Thatcher would play the leads of the second season. However, Deadline now says neither was ever confirmed and deals have not closed, leading the show to be put on the backburner. Sources told the outlet that there are “hopes to start pre-production at the end of the year for a 2026 shoot.”
