Former Switched at Birth executive producer Becky Hartman Edwards is set as showrunner of Cruel Intentions, NBC‘s pilot that reboots the cult 1999 movie, which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon.
The TV series followup, toplined by Gellar, was co-written by the film’s writer-director Roger Kumble and Lindsey Rosin & Jordan Ross, the duo behind the The Unauthorized Musical Parody Of Cruel Intentions, whose staging at Los Angeles’ Rockwell Table & Stage in May generated a lot of buzz. Kumble will direct the pilot, which he executive produces with the movie’s producer Neal H. Moritz, Edwards as well as Pavun Shetty of Original Film; Rosin and Ross co-executive produce.
Set in present day, Cruel Intentions picks up more than 15 years after the movie left off. It follows the beautiful and cunning Kathryn Merteuil (Gellar) as she vies for control of Valmont International as well as the soul of Bash Casey (Taylor John Smith), the son of her brother, the late Sebastian Valmont (played in the movie by Ryan Phillippe) and Annette (Kate Levering). Upon discovering his late father’s legacy in a hidden journal, Bash is introduced to a world of sex, money, power and corruption he never could have imagined. Kathryn is privately shaken by the arrival of Bash and the re-appearance in her life of Annette, the girl she wronged years ago.
Also co-starring in the pilot are Samantha Logan and Sophina Brown. Sony Pictures TV is producing alongside Original Film and AMBI.
Edwards was most recently a co-executive Producer on Amazon’s Hand of God. She is repped by UTA and attorney Nina Shaw.
