After being embodied twice (by Alain Delon in “Plein Soleil” in 1960 and by Matt Damon in “The Talented Mr. Ripley” in 1999), the sociopathic character dreamed up by novelist Patricia Highsmith is about to make his comeback in a television series.

In 1955, the novelist Patricia Highsmith published the first of five books about Mr. Ripley, adapted no less than twice on the silver screen. The first of these was Plein Soleil in 1955 then, forty years later came The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon and Jude Law in the lead roles in 1999. The plot? In New York of the 1950s, Tom Ripley, a penniless but ambitious young man, lives off scams until the rich Herbert Greenleafasks him to go to Sicily to find his son, Dickie, and bring him back to his obligations. Once in Italy, Tom dives into a luxury lifestyle and develops an extreme (and slightly manic) admiration for Dickie, which will lead him to the murder of the rich playboy. Today, this cult novel is about to get a new life as a series. According to Deadline, the latter will draw directly on the five novels written by Patricia Highsmith, namely The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Under Ground, Ripley’s Game, The Boy Who Followed Ripley and Ripley Under Water. The award-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian who received an Oscar for Best Screenplay for Schindler’s List in 1994, will adapt the novel. Watch this space… [ . . . ]

Continue at: Stop everything: “The Talented Mr. Ripley” is being adapted for TV