Angelina Jolie Reunites with Doug Liman for Upcoming Spy Thriller

Angelina Jolie is teaming up again with director Doug Liman, the filmmaker behind Mr. and Mrs. Smith, for a brand-new spy thriller. The news comes as Universal Pictures finalizes the deal for the project, called The Initiative. Jolie is set to star, Liman will direct, and F. Scott Frazier is writing the script, according to sources.

Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum of RK Films are producing. The company has worked with Jolie before on Disney’s Maleficent movies and has recently been behind Netflix’s Damsel and Sony’s rom-com Anyone But You.

The story is described as a “Training Day set in the world of spycraft.” Jolie will play a rogue master spy named Bright, who does whatever it takes to stop dangerous enemies. A new agent named Charlie joins her team and quickly discovers that Bright may be as dangerous as the people she is fighting against.

The studio and filmmakers want to move quickly, with a potential start of production in the first quarter of 2026. Executive VP of production development Jay Polidoro and director of development Tony Ducret will oversee the project at Universal.

Jolie has moved between fantasy films like Eternals and the Maleficent series and dramatic roles like last year’s Maria, a biopic about Maria Callas. The Initiative could bring her back to high-energy action thrillers similar to Salt and The Tourist.

Doug Liman released two films last year, Roadhouse, one of Amazon MGM’s biggest hits, and The Instigators on Apple TV+. He has a long history with Universal, having launched The Bourne Identity in 2002 and directed American Made with Tom Cruise in 2017. Liman is also attached to Deeper, an underwater film with Cruise, and an untitled Universal space movie, also starring Cruise.

F. Scott Frazier is an experienced action writer, with credits including Collide, starring Nicholas Hoult and Anthony Hopkins, and XXX: The Return of Xander Cage. Last year, he and Jimmy Loweree sold the adventure Outdueled to Amazon after a bidding war.

First reported by THR.

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