Amazon green lights ‘Cruel Intentions’ series

Decades after the theatrical release of "Cruel Intentions" and multiple attempts to bring the film to television, a series based on the 1999 movie is now officially in development.

Amazon's Prime Video has officially ordered a series for the "Cruel Intentions" project, following a two-year development period. The eight-episode series will offer a contemporary take on the original movie, itself based on the classic French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and will be set at a prestigious university in Washington, DC. 

Originally intended for Amazon's ad-supported platform Freevee (formerly IMDb TV), the series, created by writers and executive producers Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher (known for Prime Video's I Know What You Did Last Summer update), will now be featured on Prime Video, which is set to introduce ads next year.

The upcoming "Cruel Intentions" series is a collaborative production involving Sony Pictures Television, Amazon MGM Studios, and Original Film. Sony's Columbia Pictures and Original Film were also backers of the original 1999 movie.

The cast of the "Cruel Intentions" series includes Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess, Savannah Lee Smith, Sara Silva, Khobe Clarke, John Harlan Kim, Brooke Lena Johnson, and Sean Patrick Thomas. Notably, Sean Patrick Thomas, who appeared in the original 1999 movie, will play a different character in the series. Additionally, Claire Forlani, Nikki Crawford, Isabella Tagliati, Zeke Goodman, and Jon Tenney are set to have recurring roles in the series.

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The "Cruel Intentions" series for Prime Video marks at least the third attempt to adapt the film for television. After the movie's release, Fox initially ordered a spinoff series titled "Manchester Prep", but it was ultimately canceled before airing. Two completed episodes were later re-edited, with some additional explicit content, to create the straight-to-video feature "Cruel Intentions 2".

In 2015, NBC made an attempt to create a "Cruel Intentions" series, envisioning a sequel set 15 years after the original film with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her role as Kathryn Merteuil. Despite initial development, the network ultimately decided not to move forward with the show. Gellar later expressed gratitude for this decision, stating in a 2022 interview that "Nothing against NBC, but 'Cruel Intentions' is straight streaming. On the first day, I was like, "This isn't working. It's just not a network show."

Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher serve as executive producers for the "Cruel Intentions" series, along with Neal H Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film. Notably, the movie's writer-director, Roger Kumble, is also involved as an executive producer for the series.