Ryan Murphy seemed to be veering slightly away from camp with his successful anthology series, American Crime Story, but with the announcement of his new one, Feud, it’s clear: the Murph has a camp addiction. Feud, which, falling in line with ACS and American Horror Story, will change casts and stories every year, has plotted out its first season as a retelling of the making of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’ What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Murphy favorite Jessica Lange is to star as Crawford, and newcomer Susan Sarandon will star as Davis.
And, while the plot of the story is good enough — Davis and Crawford had an infamously horrendous time fighting with one another during the film’s production — Murphy has also managed to cast a terrific group of supporters: Alfred Molina will play the film’s director, Robert Aldrich, while Stanley Tucci has been cast as studio honcho Jack Warner. Judy Davis will play Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and Dominic Burgess will Davis and Crawford’s co-star, Victor Buono.
Production for this first series, which is based on a preexisting script, is set to begin this fall, while the show is mean to premiere on FX early next year. It’s set to be an 8-episode show, proving that maybe, with the success of The People v. OJ Simpson, Murphy has found some self-restraint.