Fatal Attraction on Paramount+: Trailer, Release Date, Cast, and Everything Else to Know

We're just days away from the premiere of Paramount+'s Fatal Attraction. The original 1987 film starred Michael Douglas and Glenn Close as a pair whose affair had deadly consequences. Fatal Attraction was a global hit that earned six Oscar nominations. And now, the classic psychological thriller is being adapted into a Paramount+ series. This time, Lizzy Caplan plays Alex Forrest, who refuses to end her affair with a married man, Dan Gallagher, played by Joshua Jackson.

Here's everything we know so far about Fatal Attraction on Paramount+.

When is the release date for Fatal Attraction?

Fatal Attraction is set to premiere on Sunday, April 30 with a three-episode launch on Paramount+. New episodes will be released weekly afterward. The first season will consist of eight episodes

Fatal Attraction trailer

On April 3, Paramount+ released the official Fatal Attraction trailer, which shows Jackson's Dan both during and after his doomed affair with Caplan's Alex. In the trailer, Toby Huss's Mike Gerard warns Dan, "If you tell someone to stop calling you on the 20th time you pick up, what you've taught them is that 20 calls is what it takes."

Previously, a teaser for the series was released on March 1. It features a charged exchange between Dan and Alex in an elevator and ends with Alex showing up at the Gallaghers' home and meeting Dan's wife.

Paramount+'s Fatal Attraction cast

Joshua Jackson stars as Dan Gallagher, who was portrayed by Douglas in the original film, while Lizzy Caplan stars as Alex Forrest, portrayed by Close originally. 

Amanda Peet plays Dan's wife, Beth Gallagher, and Alyssa Jirrels is set to play Dan and Beth's daughter, Ellen Gallagher.

The cast also includes Toby Huss as Mike Gerard, Reno Wilson as Detective Earl Booker, and Brian Goodman as Arthur Tomlinson. 

Fatal Attraction revew

Our review for Fatal Attraction is out, and the general feeling is that Paramount+'s reimagining played it too safe. However, it does a good job being more even-handed to the character of Alex, which is a necessary update to the original. You can read Matt Jacob's full review of Fatal Attraction here.

What was the original Fatal Attraction about?

The original Fatal Attraction is about an affair that Dan (Michael Douglas), a married lawyer in Manhattan, has with an editor named Alex (Glenn Close). The pair have a passionate weekend together while Dan's wife Beth and daughter Ellen are out of town. Alex becomes obsessed with Dan and starts to take extreme measures to get his attention as he begins to pull away. 

How will the new Fatal Attraction be different from the movie?

Showrunner, writer, and executive producer Alexandra Cunningham — who started working on the show in Oct. 2020 — previewed the series at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Cunningham said the reimagining shares plenty of similarities with the original film but "also is about entitlement and midlife crisis and how some of the sausage gets made in our broken justice system." Cunningham also said the show explores Cluster B personality disorders, a topic that was heavily discussed when the original film released due to Close's portrayal of Alex. 

The Paramount+ series also includes a present-day narrative featuring an adult version of Dan and Beth's daughter, Ellen. "So many of her scenes [in the original film] are her sort of crying in the periphery," Cunningham said. "That was a little bit of the jumping off point of when they asked me to do this and I tried to think about, what would I want to expand?"

Paramount+'s Fatal Attraction images

At the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Paramount+ dropped new photos of the upcoming series. In one image, Jackson's Dan and Caplan's Alex stand in front of Peet's Beth in what appears to be the Gallaghers' home, a scene also previewed in the first teaser trailer. Dan looks visibly disturbed.

Another image shows Jirrels as Ellen Gallagher.

How to watch Paramount+'s Fatal Attraction

Fatal Attraction premieres Sunday, April 30 on Paramount+. The 1987 film is available to stream on Showtime.