It looks like “Cruel Intentions” had a rough time making it to TV. The series on Amazon Prime Video has been canceled after only one season.
This show, which aired its first season in November 2024, was meant to be a modern twist on the 1999 movie of the same name, itself inspired by the classic book “Dangerous Liaisons.”
The idea for a TV show came about in 2021 when it was initially pitched to IMDB TV (now called Freevee). It took some time, but by late 2023, it was finally ordered by Prime Video.
The Amazon series featured a young cast, including Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess, and Savannah Lee Smith. Others included Sara Silva, John Harlan Kim, Khobe Clarke, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Brooke Lena Johnson.
Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher were the minds behind the series as co-showrunners and writers. They worked with Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty, who produced the original film, along with Roger Kumble. The production involved Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios.
The show followed students at Manchester College, a university near Washington, D.C. It explored themes of ambition and rivalry. Two step-siblings, Caroline and Lucien, would do anything to stay on top of the social ladder, even if it meant using manipulation to get close to the daughter of the Vice President—Annie Grover. In this world, friendships and loyalties are always put to the test.
Amazon doesn’t usually disclose viewership numbers, so it’s tough to know how many people watched “Cruel Intentions.” Unfortunately, the series didn’t make a splash; it didn’t appear in the Nielsen Top 10 Streaming charts, and critics weren’t impressed either. The show only managed a 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on ten reviews.
This isn’t the first time “Cruel Intentions” has tried to make a comeback. Back in 2016, NBC planned a pilot for a sequel, with Sarah Michelle Gellar returning as her character, Kathryn Merteuil, but that project never took off. Before that, Fox attempted to create a prequel series, which was also scrapped. Interestingly, three episodes from that failed project were eventually released as a direct-to-video film, “Cruel Intentions 2,” in 2001. In 2004, a sequel titled “Cruel Intentions 3” was also produced.
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