THE cast of “Fleabag” continues to book big projects. Three days after Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Amazon comedy swept the Emmys, Season-Two breakout Andrew Scott has firmed up a deal to star as book and film character Tom Ripley for a Showtime series based on Patricia Highsmith’s novels.

    Showtime’s adaptation, “Ripley,” has received a straight-to-series order of eight episodes after writer-director Steven Zaillian sparked a bidding war when he first took the project out earlier this year. “Ripley” is based off of Highsmith’s quintet of books, though many perhaps know the character best from the 1999 film adaptation ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon in the title role.

    The Ireland-born Scott has been a prominent figure in U.K. theater, film and television for some time, notably recurring on the BBC series “Sherlock” as Jim Moriarty, but the actor ascended to another level with his lauded performance in the second season of “Fleabag” — one he followed up with a starring role on a recent episode of “Black Mirror.”

    “We are so thrilled to have the supremely talented filmmaker, Steve Zaillian, adapt the singular saga of Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith’s novels as an ongoing series for Showtime,” said Showtime president of entertainment Gary Levine, who announced the news Wednesday alongside counterpart Jana Winograde. “With Andrew Scott, whose charisma knows no bounds, inhabiting the iconic lead role, we feel confident that this will be a special one.”

    Zaillian will write and direct the entire first season of “Ripley,” which follows the titular character from 1960s New York to Italy after he’s hired by a wealthy man to retrieve his vagabond son and return him to America. Deceit, fraud, murder and, if it’s anything like the movie, palpable sexual tension ensue.(SD-Agencies)