'Dangerous Liaisons' to premiere on Lionsgate Play in India

Mumbai: Period drama series "Dangerous Liaisons" will stream exclusively on Lionsgate Play in India starting December 23, the digital platform said on Tuesday.

Created and written by Harriet Warner, the series is a modern take on French author Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' classic 18th century novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses".

Set in 1700, the upcoming show follows iconic literary lovers -- the Marquise de Merteuil (Alice Englert) and the Vicomte de Valmont (Nicholas Denton) -- as they navigate wonder, terror, beauty, seduction and deception in pre-revolutionary Paris.

Englert said the dynamic between Valmont and Camille attracted her to the project.

"When I read it and realised that we were going to see these two toxic people when they had a sense of innocence in them, when they were still struggling with what they eventually perpetuated, I felt that was fascinating. That thought was so cool," the actor said in a statement.

Working on the show was a "special opportunity" for Denton.

"It's a story that centres around things that are interesting to me. The idea of power and respect and oppression, things that are really conniving and evil. When I first read the scripts from Harriet, I was completely obsessed with those first 4 episodes. It had everything in them that I was really into," he added.

Warner also serves as executive producer and showrunner on "Dangerous Liaisons". Colin Callender, Tony Krantz, Scott Huff, Bethan Jones, and Christopher Hampton also serve as executive producers with Barney Reisz credited as producer on the series.

The show also stars Leslie Manville, Kosar Ali, Carice van Houten, Hilton Pelser, Fisayo Akinade, Michael McElhatton, Nathanael Saleh, Colette Dalal Tchantcho, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Majordome, and Tom Wlaschiha.

It is produced for STARZ by Playground and Flame Ventures in association with Lionsgate Television and distributed internationally by Lionsgate.

Laclos' classic novel was previously turned into the 1988 movie "Dangerous Liaisons", starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves. Later, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe featured in the novel's contemporary adaptation, titled "Cruel Intentions".