The Cruel Intentions reboot is having difficulties getting on the air.
The reboot starring Sarah Michelle Gellar hasn’t made it onto any TV fall or summer schedule as of yet. In May, the fate of Cruel Intentions was still undecided at NBC as the network was in the midst of its upfront presentations to determine the 2016-2017 TV slate.
It’s now June and there is still no word on Cruel Intentions and whether or not we can expect to see the pilot for the reboot on NBC this fall or next summer. It also sounds like there has yet to be a decision because this is the time of year when the networks take a vacation after the cancellations, renewals, and series orders for the following TV season.
Despite not giving the reboot a definitive greenlight, series creator Roger Krumble told Variety that both NBC and Sony support the project and are working to give it a future on network TV. “The latest I’ve heard is that Sony and NBC are trying to figure this out. It feels like a long time, but it hasn’t been that long because they had the upfronts and then it was Memorial Day and everyone in the industry goes on vacation so I think they’re regrouping. What’s been great is that I’m still getting emails of support from NBC and Sony saying, ‘We’re behind this show.’”
The Cruel Intententions reboot may not have a release date, but the pilot was recently leaked online. The leak was quickly fixed, but not before the pilot received good reviewed on social media outlets such as Twitter.
For some shows, a leaked episode would cause networks to stress about piracy issues (*cough* Game of Thrones *cough*), but Kumble hopes to take advantage of the leaked episode and the free publicity, adding, “I was kind of surprised when the other day I got a call like, ‘Your pilot is online.’ Maybe there will be a groundswell of people who have seen this in the past 24 hours, and that might just be what we need to push this thing into series.”
The hope and plan is still that NBC will greenlight the reboot, but if not, the series will be shopped around elsewhere.