Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe in ‘Cruel Intentions’.Photo: Melissa Moseley/Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
The wait is finally over forCruel Intentionsfans!
Taking place atan elite college in Washington, D.C., the drama series — from writers and executive producers Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher — will chronicle “two ruthless step-siblings" who “will do anything to stay on top of the cutthroat social hierarchy. After a brutal hazing incident threatens the entire Panhellenic system at their school, they’ll do whatever is necessary to preserve their power and reputation, even if that means seducing the daughter of the vice president of the United States,” according to the streamer.
Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess and Savannah Lee Smith.Courtesy of Amazon
Courtesy of Amazon
Sarah Catherine Hook(First Kill), Zac Burgess (Totally Completely Fine), Savannah Lee Smith (Gossip Girl), Sara Silva (American Horror Stories), Khobe Clarke (Firefly Lane, Yellowjackets), John Harlan Kim (The Last Thing He Told Me, 9-1-1), Brooke Lena Johnson (You) and Sean Patrick Thomas (Till) are set to star in the series with Claire Forlani, Nikki Crawford, Isabella Tagliati, Zeke Goodman and Jon Tenney having recurring roles.
News of the Prime Video series order comes after the show wasinitially developedfor Amazon’s free streaming service, Freevee, in 2021. It will now premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
The 1999 filmCruel Intentionstold the story of Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Phillippe), two scheming step-siblings who use their classmates as pawns in their sadistic sexual games with one another — most notably Cecile Caldwell (Blair) and Annette Hargrove (Witherspoon).
Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe and Sara Michelle Gellar in ‘Cruel Intentions’.Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett
Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett
This isn’t the first timeCruel Intentionsalmost returned. A reboot of the original film was initially expected on NBC in 2016 — and would have starred Gellar again as Kathryn. However, the sequel series was ultimately scrapped.
Gellar previously argued that a sequel to the film would be better housed on a streaming service — not on NBC as originally planned. “Nothing against NBC, butCruel Intentionsis straight streaming,” Gellar told theNew York Times. “On the first day, I was like, ‘This isn’t working.’ It’s just not a network show. And if it is a network show, it’s not myCruel Intentions. So, I was actually grateful.”
Another failed effort includedCruel Intentions 2,which was initially imagined to be a prequel series in 2000 starringAmy Adamsbut was instead released as direct-to-video in March 2001.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Cruel Intentions 3, which had little relation to the previous films in the series, was also released as direct-to-video in 2004. Most recently, a jukebox musical adaptation of the 1999 film — featuring classic pop and rock hits of the 1990s integrated into original storyline — played in Los Angeles before transferring Off-Broadway in November 2017.
source: people.com
