It’s taken a long time, but Cruel Intentions is finally receiving the sequel fans have been waiting for, for over two decades.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair appeared in the 1999 adolescent romance thriller.
The film was a contemporary reworking of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 book Les Liaisons dangereuses, set in New York City, and followed wealthy high students who were ready to go to any length to remain at the top of the social structure.
While there were plans for a sequel series back in 2015, which had gone so far as to cast the major characters and would have seen Sarah Michelle return to her part, the project was shelved by NBC several months later.
However, Amazon will now produce an eight-episode series based on the cult favorite, with filming set to begin later this month.
Variety reports that it will be based in Washington, D.C., and will follow “two ruthless step-siblings who will do anything to stay at the top of the Greek Life hierarchy at their elite college.”
When a cruel hazing episode threatens the entire system, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep their authority and identities, including seducing the vice president’s daughter.
The plot is similar to the original film, in which step-siblings Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan) bet on Sebastian’s ability to charm Annette Hargrove (Reese), the daughter of their prestigious New York City school’s principal.
A prequel series, Manchester Prep, was shot the same year the picture was published, but the project was scrapped before it could be transmitted.
The three segments were edited together two years later to make the film Cruel Intentions 2, which was distributed direct-to-video.
Last year, Sarah stated that she was ‘grateful’ that the 2015 second series was never developed further because it ‘wasn’t working’.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, reflecting on her choice to withdraw. ‘That was a whole crazy time.’
‘Nothing against NBC, but Cruel Intentions is straight streaming. On the first day, I was like, “this isn’t working”.’
She added it wasn’t a ‘network show’.
‘And if it is a network show, it’s not my Cruel Intentions. So, I was actually grateful,’ she added to the New York Times.