Sarah Michelle Gellar Explains Why She’s Not Involved with Amazon’s Cruel Intentions Reboot

Recently, it was reported that Cruel Intentions is getting rebooted as an eight-episode series for Amazon Studios. The long-gestating project will finally get its cameras rolling in June, though it’s not yet clear if it will first premiere on Prime Video or the platform’s free streaming sister service Freevee. Word is the series will move the story to Washington D.C. where two step-siblings resort to seducing the U.S. vice president’s daughter with the hopes of protecting their status at an elite college.

Csating information has yet to be announced, but we shouldn’t expect to see original Cruel Intentions star Sarah Michelle Gellar popping up. Back in 2016, Gellar had starred in a pilot for a potential series adaptation at NBC, even reprising her role from the film. The network ultimately passed on the series, something Gellar later said she was happy about. In a new interview with Variety, she confirms she’s not involved with the series, explaining why she thinks it was best to avoid returning to that world after her failed attempt to do so years prior.

“No [I’m not involved]. I’ve learned a lesson with that, which is it’s a very difficult process. And eventually, or inevitably, you’re going to be let down. Because some people want a new [version], some people want this, and my place in something like that only makes you compare it to the original. And if there’s a new take and new whatever, then they get a chance to stand on their own.”

It wasn’t for a lack of trying with getting her to take part. Gellar also says there had been contact made about having her get involved somehow, though it came after the news of the reboot series had already been broken.

“In this instance I heard about it online. I was contacted afterwards, but I heard about it online.”

Related: Sarah Michelle Gellar Says Cruel Intentions Kiss with Selma Blair Was ‘Like a Live Performance’

Cruel Intentions Gets Reimagined by Amazon

Cruel Intentions was given a prequel in 2000 and a sequel in 2004, though neither had been able to match the success of the cult classic original. Released in 1999, Cruel Intentions was written and directed by Roger Kumble. The movie tells the story of a sexual competition between two step-siblings, played by Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, which comes to involve an unknowing virgin, played by Reese Witherspoon. The movie also stars Selma Blair, Louise Fletcher, Joshua Jackson, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Swoosie Kurtz.

The Cruel Intentions series will start filming in June. It does not yet have a premiere date.