Netflix Adapting New K-Drama Show Based On Dangerous Liaisons With Main Cast Confirmed

Netflix is bringing a new adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons to the small screen. Originally titled Les Liaisons dangereuses, the 1782 French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos is a steamy satire of the idle rich that weaves a tapestry of seduction and betrayal amid a collection of characters among the French nobility of the era. It has been adapted to the screen many times, perhaps most notably in a 1988 John Malkovich movie that also starred Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer, and in the 1999 teen movie reimagining Cruel Intentions, which starred Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Reese Witherspoon.

Per The Hollywood Reporter,production is currently underway in Seoul on a new Netflix K-drama titled Scandals, which is being directed by Tune in for Love's Jung Ji-woo and adapts the 2003 movie Untold Scandal. In turn, Untold Scandal was an adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons set in the Joseon era, which was Korea's longest dynasty and lasted from 1392 to 1897.

The series will follow the basic framework of both the movie and the novel, following the upper-class Lady Cho (Son Ye-jin of Something in the Rain) and her licentious friend Cho Won (Ji Chang-wook of Suspicious Partner) conspiring to sexually and romantically manipulate the widow Hui-yeon (Nana of My Man is Cupid). Read Netflix's official description of Scandals below:

[Scandals] brings to life a world where love and temptation were taboo. The series depicts characters who challenge the strict order of society and engage in a risqué game of love and temptation at a time when harboring desires was forbidden.

What This Means For Scandals

It Could Breathe New Life Into The Property

Given the sheer number of adaptations of Dangerous Liaisons that have graced the big and small screen since it was first adapted into a movie in 1959, the team behind Scandals will have to work hard in order for it to stand out. This is complicated by the fact that the novel has already been adapted three times in the 2020s alone, in a 2022 French movie that is also a Netflix release, a 2022 Starz drama featuring Nicholas Denton, and the 2022 Cruel Intentions TV show, a short-lived Prime Video reboot starring Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess.

However, by bringing the story of Untold Scandal to the small screen, Scandals may have already found the factor that will help it stand out. The 2003 movie recontextualized the story with unique juxtaposition by setting it in an entirely different culture during a time when there were similar social and moral restrictions. While it was a success, becoming the fourth highest-grossing movie in South Korea that year (two spots behind the Bong Joon Ho movieMemories of Murder), being a Netflix production will allow the series to find a wider audience, bringing Untold Scandal's fresh take worldwide.

Our Take On The Scandals Announcement

It Could Become A Netflix Hit

The star-studded cast of Scandals should also help it find an audience despite a litany of other Dangerous Liaisons adaptations. If its cast and source material are successful in helping it stand out, it could potentially become a smash hit for Netflix, especially as it comes during a time when K-dramas have become increasingly popular on the platform, with titles such as Melo Movie, When Life Gives You Tangerines, and the record-breaking Squid Game finding broad global audiences.

Source: THR