A Brief Timeline of The Talented Mr. Ripley Adaptations

Novelist Patricia Highsmith introduced the world to Tom Ripley, the con artist driven to murder by his insatiable thirst for the good life. The author, who considered her protagonist her alter ego, would chart his exploits in four more novels.

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Alain Delon went from rising talent to international star when he was cast as Tom Ripley in René Clément's French adaptation, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon to American audiences). Highsmith was impressed—she called his portrayal "excellent."

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Dennis Hopper took up the role of Ripley in The American Friend, German auteur Wim Wenders's neo-noir take on the third novel in the series (Ripley's Game). The same book was adapted for film a second time, in 2002, with John Malkovich as its star.

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Highsmith, who died in 1995, wasn't around to offer her opinion on the second cinematic iteration of The Talented Mr. Ripley—with its A-list lineup of Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cate Blanchett—but the film's cult status speaks for itself.

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Could Tom Ripley become prestige TV's new favorite anti-hero? We'll find out this week when Andrew Scott makes his debut in Ripley, alongside Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning in a new Netflix series created by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian.

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