When they did, their pitch to Warner Bros was for a different approach to that taken by the '60s-era series: an origin story.
"It's the story of how [Smart] became great. It's like, how does one become a Batman?" Astle says.
When they heard they had been picked to adapt the show for a summer movie - and that Steve Carell was "attached" to play Maxwell Smart - they were ecstatic.
They were surprised to hear, however, that Carell was on the long list of people who had to sign off on their script.
"Attached," they learned, is not the same as "committed". "What it means is, 'I will do it if the script is good'," Ember said.
The writers say dealing with die-hard fans of the series has been the main issue.
As soon as friends found out that they were writing an adaptation of the series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, they immediately started showering them with questions such as, "Are you going to have the shoe phone?"
While aiming to update their script with post-September 11, 2001, references, they were sure to include most of the classic catch phrases: "Would you believe?" "Sorry about that, Chief."
Along with the shoe phone, they crammed in as many signature gadgets as they could, including the always-malfunctioning Cone of Silence.
Since Hollywood executives can't seem to pair an older actress with an older actor, they had to add a back story to explain why Anne Hathaway as Agent 99 looks so much younger than Smart.
Their idea? She had radical plastic surgery to disguise herself and had a few years shaved off while she was at it. - Lynn Smith.
