Last week, the Netflix streaming service released Ripley, a limited series adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr. Ripley that sees Andrew Scott taking on the title role. (You can read our review HERE). Tom Ripley is a character who has been fascinating readers and viewers for decades, as he was at the center of multiple novels written by Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley, and Ripley Underwater). Ripley was originally set up Showtime, where Schindler’s List Oscar winner Steven Zaillian – who wrote and directed all eight episodes of Ripley – was planning to use all of the Ripley novels as “a road map to showcase Ripley’s transformation from con artist to serial killer” over the course of an on-going series. Now that Ripley has made its way out into the world on Netflix, Scott and Zaillian have both said that it’s possible the show could return for more seasons that could adapt more of the books… they just need to take a break first.
Speaking with The Wrap, Zaillian said, “I think other (seasons) are certainly possible. We have the rights to all the books, so we could do it. I’ll need a little break but yeah, I think he’s a good enough character that you could do more.“
In a separate interview, Scott said, “It’s been such a long, long process with this one. I’m just very interested to see how this one goes out. To be honest, after this year, I’m just looking forward to taking a break.“
Ripley shows us what happens when Tom Ripley, a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York, is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to try to convince his vagabond son Dickie Greenleaf to return home. Tom’s acceptance of the job is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder.
Dickie Greenleaf is played by Johnny Flynn (The Lovers). Dakota Fanning (The Equalizer 3) plays Marge Sherwood, “an American living in Italy who suspects darker motives underlie Tom’s affability.”
There have been multiple previous adaptations of Highsmith’s Ripley novels, but there has never been a series of adaptations with the same star or from the same creative team, so I would love to see Ripley run for five seasons and make its way through all of the books. Previous adaptations include the 1960 film Purple Noon (where Ripley was played by Alain Delon), the 1977 film The American Friend (with Dennis Hopper as Ripley), the 2002 film Ripley’s Game (John Malkovich was Ripley in that one), the 2005 film Ripley Under Ground (with Barry Pepper as Ripley), a 1956 episode of the TV series Studio One, and perhaps most famously, the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley, where Ripley was played by Matt Damon.
Ripley is a Showtime and Endemol Shine North America co-production, in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights. Zaillian serves as executive producer alongside Garrett Basch, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Sharon Levy, and Philipp Keel of Diogenes. Scott is a producer on the series.
Would you like to see Ripley continue for a season 2 (and beyond)? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.