Cruel Intentions is getting a new take on Prime Video, but has anyone really been asking for this?
It's been a big trend in television in the last decade to do TV versions of old films. Some can work like Prime Video's reworking of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Others can falter such as Paramount TV's disastrous take on Heathers. Now, we can add Cruel Intentions to the list.
The 1999 film was a loose modernization of the classic novel Dangerous Liaisons. Wealthy Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) relishes in seducing women and wants a challenge. His step-sister Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) makes a unique wager on Sebastian seducing their virginal classmate Annette (Reese Witherspoon). Thus begins a twisted romance and dark games of control.
The movie was a box office hit that remains a cult classic twenty-five years later. Fox attempted a TV show based on it starring a young Amy Adams, only to have it become a direct-to-video sequel. In 2015, NBC filmed a pilot with Gellar reprising her role as Kathryn, but it wasn't picked up for series.
Now, Prime Video is tackling the property in a new take, moving the action to Washington D.C. and adding in more dramatic plotlines. The official description shows it's a different show in some ways, even if it keeps to the main themes.
"Cruel Intentions follows the elite students of Manchester College, a Washington, D.C.-adjacent university, where reputation means everything, fraternities and sororities are the gold standard, and two ruthless stepsiblings, Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess), will do anything to stay on top of the cutthroat social hierarchy. After a brutal hazing incident threatens the entire Greek Life system, they'll do whatever is necessary to preserve their power and reputation – even if that means seducing Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith), the daughter of the Vice President of the United States. Hearts will be broken, loyalties will be tested, and secrets will be revealed in this modern-day royal court that is Manchester College."
So we're getting a new take on this property, but is it what anyone wants?
We don't need a Cruel Intentions reboot
The issue from the start is that the 1999 movie is perfectly fine, it doesn't need a TV series adaptation. If anything, the idea of the 2015 sequel might have been more interesting to see Kathryn continuing to pull her games. A reboot seems off as few TV shows are truly able to improve on the source material of a film.
The trailer tries to replicate the feel of the movie down to the music, but it doesn't quite feel the same. It's not just the update to modern times; the plotline itself seems to be meandering. The original story worked because of how tight it was. Sebastian and Kathryn were playing the twisted game on Annette, both cunning, only for their mutual jealousy to lead to tragedy. It was a great story that worked for a 90-minute movie.
Expanding that to an eight-episode series doesn't seem a good idea. Not to mention, the "hazing incident" makes it seem like it won't be just about this bet the two make but about trying to assert power at the college. The pair weren't about such big control, they just wanted to have fun and this "save the hierarchy system" seems more inclined for HBO's Gossip Girl reboot. That show's quick death should be a sign maybe audiences aren't going to tune into this.
Cruel Intentions also worked as back in 1999, a dark take on high school life with the elite was a fresh idea. Today, you can throw a rock at a streaming service and find a show just like it. It's the classic case of a movie that inspired so many copycats that trying to remake it only adds to the pile. The trailer alone looks so familiar to other shows on various streamers that it's hard to be unique.
It wouldn't be the first time a TV adaptation takes the title and plot of a movie and then switches it up for its own direction. Sometimes that works but Intentions doesn't need some commentary on today's youth and social media and such. A movie remake wouldn't be bad yet this looks like it'll be another case of dragging a story to eight episodes when it could be solved in much less time.
Again, it's how unnecessary this is, as the original film told its story almost perfectly with a perfect cast to boot. The trailer comes off as a pale imitation of a "greatest hits" of the movie's beats down to the song, and the nostalgia factor won't make up for a rough story or acting.
Maybe the show can find an audience, but it also seems like another case of Prime Video thinking they can just use an old title for a new take that doesn't always work. Perhaps the new Cruel Intentions will be a good watch, but it also feels unneeded and much better to watch the original film.
Cruel Intentions premieres November 17 on Prime Video.