Everything to know about the Cruel Intentions reboot series

One of the most iconic romantic drama movies from the '90s is receiving a television series adaptation. We're talking about the cult classic Cruel Intentions, and Amazon is the company that will take the reins on this new iteration.

We first learned of this show back in April 2023 when it was announced that Amazon had ordered it to series with it consisting of eight episodes. A series adaptation had been in development at Amazon Freevee since 2021 but plans eventually changed, and the show will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video instead.

This isn't the first time a Cruel Intentions television series was in the works. Back in 2016, a pilot for a sequel series was filmed with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her role as Kathryn Merteuil from the 1999 film, but the NBC show never made it to air.

Instead of being a sequel series to the 1999 film, Amazon's new iteration is an updated remake. The show takes place in Washington, D.C., and centers around two toxic step-siblings, Caroline Merteuil and Lucien Belmont, who are at the top of the Greek Life hierarchy at their prestigious college. But when a public hazing incident threatens their social statuses, the step-siblings will do anything to make things right, even seducing the daughter of the U.S. vice president.

Sarah Catherine Hook stars in one of the leading roles of Caroline Merteuil. You might recognize her from her previous roles as Debbie Glatzel in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and Juliette Fairmont in Netflix's First Kill. Besides Cruel Intentions, we'll see her next in the upcoming third season of The White Lotus.

Zac Burgess plays the role of Lucien Belmont. He's best known for starring as Eli Bell in the Netflix coming-of-age series Boy Swallows Universe. It's unknown what other projects he's working on other than Cruel Intentions.

Then, there's Savannah Lee Smith, who many will recognize from the short-lived Max series Gossip Girl, playing the role of Annie Grover, the daughter of the United States vice president. Smith's upcoming projects also include the coming-of-age comedy The Upside Of Unrequited.

The rest of the cast includes Sara Silva, Khobe Clarke, John Harlan Kim, Brooke Lena Johnson, Claire Forlani, Nikki Crawford, Isabella Tagliati, Zeke Goodman, and Jon Tenney. Sean Patrick Thomas, who played Ronald Clifford in the 1999 film, will return for the series. However, he'll be playing a character named Professor Chadwick.

Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman wrote the scripts and are co-showrunners and executive producers. Other executive producers include Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, and Roger Kumble. Production on the series reportedly started in June 2023 in Toronto. It's unclear when the cameras stopped rolling, but production has wrapped already. According to Entertainment Weekly, Cruel Intentions will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in November 2024. We'll get back to you with the official release date once it is announced.

Check out these official production stills from the new series via Film Updates on X:

The original film, Cruel Intentions, is a contemporary adaptation of the 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. It follows two manipulative, wealthy step-siblings, Kathryn and Sebastian, who attend an elite high school in New York City and engage in a cruel game with the virginal daughter of their school's headmaster, Annette Hargrove.

Kathryn bets Sebastian that he can't seduce Annette before the start of the school year. If he wins, he gets to sleep with Kathryn. But if he loses, he has to give up his vintage Jaguar. Sebastian takes on the challenge but ends up falling for Annette in the process. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair starred in this 1999 film.

That's all we know about the Cruel Intentions reboot series at the moment. We're still waiting on the release date and official trailer. Once these juicy deets are released, we'll be sure to come back and share with you everything we learned. But for now, you'll have to stay tuned to This Is Us Crying!