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. The first installment goes backstage to chronicle the battle between movie legends Joan Crawford (Lange) and Bette Davis (Sarandon) on the set of the 1962 film, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? “Feud” will begin shooting in the fall for an expected 2017 FX premiere.
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Feud will also star Alfred Molina as Baby Jane’s director Robert Aldrich, Stanley Tucci as studio exec Jack Warner, Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and Dominic Burgess as Crawford and Davis’ co-star Victor Buono.
“Ryan keeps re-inventing TV …”
“Ryan revolutionized the modern anthology with the American Horror Story and American Crime Story franchises, and he’s come up with another gem in Feud”, said Fox Television Group Chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman. For every The New Normal theres a Glee or American Crime Story to bring the drama (and sometimes even some musical covers!).
In a statement, FX Networks CEO John Landraf praised Murphy for his creativity and said Feud shows the ambition of other Murphy projects. Sure, “American Horror Story” may have been pretty disappointing with “Hotel”, but it still delivers some of the network’s strongest ratings and we have to assume this accounts for something.
A diva-off between her and Sarandon will make some great television-and if there’s anyone who knows how to capitalize on campiness and catiness, it’s Ryan Murphy. Murphy will also direct some and will executive produce alongside Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner. Or would you rather Jessica Lange return to American Horror Story?
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Murphy and Lange most recently collaborated on the 2016 Broadway revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which just netted the duo their first Tony nominations. This is Susan’s first TV show role since her appearance on Mike & Molly in 2014. Moreover, since this is an anthology series, one can start to imagine the various other legendary feuds that could take center stage in subsequent seasons.
