Starz banks on more Dangerous Liaisons ahead of first season premiere

If there’s one thing we can rely on Starz for, it’s a lush period piece. It’s about to deliver another with Dangerous Liaisons, premiering November 6, 2022, and before the adaptation even hit the screen the network said, “why not?” and ordered a second season for your viewing pleasure.

“Dangerous Liaisons is addictive, provocative and beautifully rendered,” said Starz President of Original Programming Kathryn Busby in a statement. “This prelude to the famed 18th-century novel illuminates pre-revolution Paris at its most decadent. We are confident that by the end of season one viewers will be craving more scheming and seduction.”

In his own statement, executive producer Colin Callender said, “We’re greatly appreciative to STARZ and Lionsgate for their ongoing support of the show. We’re very excited to share Harriet Warner’s brilliant vision for season two, which will see our world expand and the relationships between our characters deepen in thrilling, dangerous new ways.”

Dangerous Liaisons is described as a “bold prelude of Laclos’ classic 18th-century novel focusing on the origin story of how his iconic characters, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, met as passionate young lovers in Paris on the eve of the revolution.” Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton play the series’ central lovers, with Lesley Manville as Camille’s (Englert) mentor Geneviève de Merteuil. Kosar Ali, Carice van Houten, Hilton Pelser, Fisayo Akinade, Michael McElhatton, Nathanael Saleh, Colette Dalal Tchantcho, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Tom Wlaschiha, and Paloma Faith also star.

This television version is just the latest adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 1782 epistolary novel for the screen. Notable entries include the Oscar-winning Dangerous Liaisons (starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman, and Keanu Reeves) and Valmont (starring Colin Firth, Annette Bening, and Meg Tilly), which were released back-to-back in 1988 and 1989. There’s also Cruel Intentions (starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair), the cult classic modern teen adaptation released in 1999. The novel has yet to get the prequel treatment (unless you count Cruel Intentions 2), so this Dangerous Liaisons will break new ground, at least!