'90s Cult Classic Cruel Intentions Is Coming Back as a TV Series
It's been a long time coming.
(SPOT.ph) Teen sexuality has never been the same for millennials ever since Cruel Intentions came out in 1999—and now the same can be said for Gen Z with a television series reboot of the same story on the slate.
According to TVLine, Amazon has placed an order for an eight-episode series TV adaption of the cult classic film, which will likely be released through the company’s free streaming service Freevee. However, folks on our shores don't need to worry as insiders claim there’s a chance Amazon will bring the show to Prime Video in the future.
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What we know about Cruel Intentions TV adaption
It’s not the first time there was some interest in taking Cruel Intentions to the small screen. This has actually been in development at Amazon Freevee since 2021, with Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television as the producers. It was only now that it has officially been picked up and greenlit as a TV series.
The dark romance film is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ novel Les Liaisons dangereuses set in 1782, but relocates the story to New York City amongst upperclass high-school teens. Step-siblings Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Philippe) make a wager regarding the virginity of prep school headmaster’s daughter Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon) and a Sebastian's vintage Jaguar XK140. What follows is arguably one of the biggest films of the '90s and early aughts—and quite possibly the sexual awakening of many.
Witherspoon and Philippe actually married the same year the movie was released. Although they would divorce in 2007, we're taking it as proof that tension in the movie was real. The success of Cruel Intentions saw a prequel in 2001 and a sequel in 2004, but neither movie quite reached the heights of the first.
The new version will follow two step-siblings in a Greek life hierarchy at an elite college in Washington, D.C. Variety reported the synopsis: “After a brutal hazing incident threatens the entire Panhellenic system, they’ll do anything to preserve their power and reputations, even attempt to seduce the daughter of the Vice President of the United States.”
Unfortunately, none of the original cast will be involved in the project, but producer of the original movie Neal H. Moritz will be the executive producer for the TV show. It’s fresh faces with the same story of lust, betrayal, and manipulation—we'll have to wait and see how it stands. In the meantime, watch the trailer of the '90s film below for a hit of nostalgia:
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this strange new world.