‘Cruel Intentions’ TV Follow-Up Set at NBC

Add another reboot to broadcast television’s rapidly growing remake craze.

NBC is teaming with the creator of L.A.’s Unauthorized Musical Parody of Cruel Intentions for a TV follow-up series based on the 1999 movie starring Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar, THR has confirmed.

The small-screen sequel, which has received a script plus penalty commitment, centers on Bash Casey, the son of Phillippe and Witherspoon’s characters Sebastian and Annette. Set in the present day, NBC’s Cruel Intentions centers around 16-year-old Bash, who after finding his father’s journal, learns of a family legacy he wasn’t aware existed. Looking for answers, he swaps his small-town Kansas upbringing for a scholarship to Brighton Prep in San Francisco, where he becomes embroiled in a world of sex, money, power and corruption.

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Cruel Intentions writer-director Roger Kumble and producer Neal H. Moritz will be joined by Lindsey Rosin and Jordan Ross, the duo behind the musical parody. The pair’s send-up at L.A.’s Rockwell in May attracted the film’s four central stars, including Selma Blair. Kumble has remained in touch with the duo after blessing the musical parody. He will pen the script for NBC alongside Rosin and Ross, with the former also attached to direct should the reboot move forward. Sony Pictures Television-based Moritz and his Original Film’s Pavun Shetty will exec produce, while Rosin and Ross are set as co-executive producers.

The movie, produced by SPT sibling Columbia Pictures, grossed $75 million on a $10.5 million budget.

Rosin and Ross are repped by ICM Parnters; Kumble is with UTA.

Cruel Intentions becomes the latest TV remake this development season as broadcast networks look for IP and proven brands in a bid to cut through the increasing clutter. ABC is developing a My Best Friend’s Wedding sequel as well as a female-fronted take on Fantasy Island. CBS is rebooting Nancy Drew, MacGyver, Training Day and H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau; Fox is readying Behind Enemy Lines; The CW is prepping The Notebook and Friday the 13th; NBC has Hart to Hart; and studio 20th Century Fox Television is shopping a reboot of The A-Team, while Norman Lear is rebooting One Day at a Time (though there is no network yet attached). Fox also has revivals of The X-Files and Prison Break in the works after recently rebooting 24.

This season’s reboots and revivals have debuted to mixed reactions. Fox’s Minority Report has faltered in its early episodes and had its episode order trimmed to 10; NBC’s Heroes had a modest debut, while CBS found early success with Bradley Cooper’s Limitless follow-up. Additional revival series based on Rush Hour (CBS) and Uncle Buck (ABC) are due later this season.