Ripley, an upcoming Showtime drama starring Andrew Scott, has found a new home at Netflix. Deals are still being finalized but the limited series from The Night Of’s Steven Zaillian, based on Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling quintet of Tom Ripley novels, is headed to the global streamer, I hear. Reps for Netflix and Showtime declined comment.

The relocation happened pretty fast over the last few days, sources said. When Deadline revealed last week that another upcoming Showtime series, drama Three Women, was being shopped after the network had opted not to proceed with it ahead of its integration into Paramount+, Ripley, which is in early stages of post-production, was still targeting a late 2023-early 24 launch on Showtime. (Three Women, whose first season is completed, is closing in on a pickup at Starz.)

While Ripley, which also stars Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning, is months from being ready to air, there had been buzz about the title among other premium networks and streamers. I hear the series’ executive producer Garrett Basch and WME only started exploring a move following the announcement earlier this week of Showtime’s new programming strategy built on TV universes with multiple Billions and Dexter spinoffs in the works. Netflix stepped in and bought the project preemptively after reviewing some footage, sources said.

I hear the eight-episode Ripley, based primarily on the The Talented Mr. Ripley novel, was designed as a limited series, in the vein of Zaillian’s acclaimed The Night Of, but there is a possibility to go beyond the first installment if it’s a hit.

Ripley follows Tom Ripley (Scott), a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York, who is hired by a wealthy man to try to convince his vagabond son, Dickie Greenleaf (Flynn), who is living a comfortable, trust-funded ex-pat life in Italy, to return home. Tom’s acceptance of the job is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder. Fanning plays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who suspects darker motives underlie Tom’s affability.

Zaillian wrote and directed the entire first season of the series, co-produced by Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights. Executive producers are Zaillian, Basch, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Sharon Levy, Philipp Keel of Diogenes. Scott serves as a producer. [Source]