Fatal Attraction television series ordered at Paramount Plus, Lizzy Caplan set to star
The series will take on the 1987 film that originally starred Glenn Close
This attraction is about to get fatal. Paramount+ has officially ordered a series adaptation of Fatal Attraction, with Castle Rock’s Lizzy Caplan attached as the lead.
Caplan will star as Alex, a woman who becomes obsessed with her lover after a brief affair. A “deep-dive reimagining of the classic psychosexual thriller and ‘80s cultural touchstone,” the new series seeks to explore fatal attraction and the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity, through the lens of modern attitudes towards strong women, personality disorders and coercive control.
Alexandra Cunningham (Dirty John, Chance) serves as writer, showrunner and executive producer on the series alongside executive producer Kevin J. Hynes (Perry Mason), with whom Cunningham shares co-story credit.
“Alexandra brings an incredibly strong and nuanced point of view to a story that became a cultural phenomenon, but has thus far only been told from the male gaze,” says Paramount+ Original Scripted Series President Nicole Clemens. “Partnered with Kevin, they will bring the next explosive chapter of this story to a new generation, with a balanced eye to the complexities of the human psyche.”
In the 1987 film adaptation by director Adrian Lyne, Glenn Close starred as Alex, picking up an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination along the way.
The blockbuster film and series are both based on the short film Diversion by James Dearden, who wrote the screenplay for the feature film. The role of Dan, which was played by Michael Douglas in the film, has not been cast yet.
In addition to starring in the second season of the Hulu original series Castle Rock, Caplan most recently voiced the lead character Reagan Ridley in the animated comedy Inside Job. Over four seasons, Caplan starred opposite Michael Sheen in the drama series Masters Of Sex, for which she received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress. However, the actor is probably most known for her breakout role as the goth Lebanese (not lesbian) teen in Mean Girls (2004).