Variety tells us that Fox is developing a contemporary take on the 1988 dark comedy ‘Heathers.’

The Michael Lehmann directed cult classic, which starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, will be adapted for TV by writer Mark Rizzo and ‘Sex and the City’ alum Jenny Bicks. Sony and Lakeshore Entertainment will produce.

The original movie centered around popular girl Veronica (Ryder) and her clique, all named Heather. The girls rule the school until a new student, J.D. (Slater), comes along; Veronica turns on her friends and students start dying of apparent suicides. It was a box office flop but later gained momentum on the VHS and DVD markets.

‘Heathers’ was full of pop culture references – the students attended a high school named for Replacements singer Paul Westerberg – and, 20 years after the fact, such references have become commonplace in stylized, mainstream pop culture from Quentin Tarantino movies to ‘Family Guy’ (where the kids attend James Woods High).

This might be one of the probably many reasons reps for Rizzo and Bicks decided the title was ripe for revival. Variety says they contacted Lakeshore, which owns the rights to the film, about potentially dusting off the franchise.

“We had the title, and talked about doing a film remake at times,” said Lakeshore’s Gary Lucchesi. “But doing it for TV seemed like a fresh and original idea.”

All the main characters from the original film are expected to appear.