Fox announced today that its developing an event special centered around a reboot of Fatal Attraction, Adrian Lyne's surprise 1987 hit that hinges on an extramarital affair that ruins a young professional's life. According to THR, Paramount Television and Fox are planning the series to be a short-order event series, not unlike the Rosemary's Baby reboot, with the possible chance for a second season, depending on how all of this shakes out in terms of ratings. Lyne's film tracked the devolving personal life of Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) following a short-lived affair with Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), who goes as far as to attempt to kill his wife (Anne Archer) and finally him, but there's no certainty if this will be the same narrative trajectory of the series.

In fact, if ever there was an '80s film that could use a bit of retooling, it's Lyne's visually lush but ruefully misogynistic thriller. Lyne's film, unfortunately, depicted Alex as a heinous, violent clinger who clamped onto the otherwise reasonable Dan.  The film never mines what exactly made Dan take this chance or, and I know this sounds nuts, why a powerful, wanted businesswoman like Alex would cling to him other than she's a desperate, lonely lady who wants a family. The fact that Maria and Andre Jacquemetton, former writers on Mad Men, makes a more progressive or balanced view of such an affair a lot more likely, thankfully, but this will really come down to whoever chooses to direct the reboot. Regardless, the reboot will likely show up on Fox's 2016 schedule but for now, we must wait to see whether this will be a Lifetime movie or Gone Girl.

Here's the trailer for the 1987 original:

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