Netflix Picks Up Gay-Themed ‘Ripley’ Series From Showtime

The long-in-development Showtime series, Ripley, starring out actor Andrew Scott as the treacherous con man Tom Ripley, will now premiere on Netflix. The series is based on queer author Patricia Highsmith’s novels about a man willing to do anything to attain wealth and prestige. Yes, the same character played by Matt Damon in the 1999 Oscar nominated film, The Talented Mr. Ripley. https://twitter.com/THR/status/1624081466303959040 From The Hollywood Reporter:

Showtime gave Ripley a series order in 2019, with Oscar winner Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, HBO’s The Night Of) writing and directing all eight episodes.

Scott plays Tom Ripley, a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York who’s hired by a wealthy man to go to Italy and try to convince his vagabond son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home. Tom accepts the job and takes a first step into a life of deceit, fraud and murder.

It looks like Netflix and Showtime are playing a little “gay series swap” as last week I reported Showtime picked up the Neil Patrick Harris gay-themed Uncoupled from Netflix for a second season. https://twitter.com/randyslovacek/status/1624485057435152384