Rich teenagers, an elite college and plenty of intrigue: fans of Maxton Hall can look forward to a new coming-of-age series on Amazon, based on a story that many are likely already familiar with.
Fans of series like Maxton Hall and Gossip Girl are being treated to a new highlight in the streaming program on Amazon Prime Video, which once again takes them into the lives of wealthy teenagers in magnificent private schools.
The coming-of-age series Cruel Intentions is based on a particular template that all children of the 80s and 90s will remember well. The format retells the story of the 1999 cult film of the same name, in which Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe played against each other.
Maxton Hall replacement Cruel Intentions on Amazon in stream: Two step-siblings stir up an elite college
The Amazon series takes the plot of the 90s cult film by Roger Kumble (Super Sweet and Super Sexy) and transposes it into the present in eight episodes. In it, the two step-siblings Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) top the food chain at an elite college in Washington, D.C.
But when a campus initiation ritual escalates, their reputation and influence are at stake. To save both, they must win over the daughter of the US Vice President, Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith). And the best way to do that is to seduce her.
Watch the trailer for Cruel Intentions here:
Cruel Intentions as a series: the first attempt failed in 2016
This project is not the first to take on the story of Cruel Intentions as a series. As early as 2016, a series was planned by US broadcaster NBC, which took place 17 years after the film and revolved around the son of the main characters at the time, Sebastian Valmont and Annette Hargrove.
Even original star Sarah Michelle Gellar was brought back on board in her role as Kathryn Merteuil. However, after a pilot episode was shot, the project was shut down and never saw the light of day.
In April 2023, Amazon instead tackled a new version as a series with Phoebe Fisher (Assassination Nation) and Sara Goodman (I Know What You Did Last Summer) as creative forces – apparently with success. The series is now launching on Amazon Prime Video on November 21, 2024.
