The Cruel Intentions reboot that NBC rejected and why Sarah Michelle Gellar is thankful the pilot was not taken to series are both discussed.
In February 2016, the peacock network gave it a pilot order, but in October that year, the show was not moving ahead. Gellar had agreed to reprise her role as Kathryn Merteuil , but she ultimately felt that the new version did not suffice to match the 1999 film.
“That was a whole crazy time,” she told the New York Times. “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. And if it is a network show, it’s not my Cruel Intentions. So, I was actually grateful.”
The Cruel Intentions reboot would’ve taken place more than 15 years after the film left off, with Merteuil (Gellar) vying for control of Valmont International as well as the soul of Bash Casey, the son of her late brother, Sebastian Valmont, and Annette Hargrove. Upon discovering his late father’s legacy in a hidden journal, Bash is introduced to a world of sex, money, power, and corruption he could never have imagined.
Before its unsuccessful television series, Manchester Prep, Fox tested the waters with a direct-to-video release called Cruel Intentions 2.
IMDb TV is currently developing a new version of the film based on Choderlos de Laclos’ novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which will be set in the world of politics.
