The trailer for FX’s eagerly awaited new series “Feud: Bette and Joan” was just released. Created by Emmy champ Ryan Murphy, “Feud” stars Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford and Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and chronicles their long-running battle to be queen of Hollywood. “For over half a century, they hated each other and we loved them for it,” says Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland.
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The story focuses on the making of their one movie together, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?,” which was an unexpected hit for these two past Oscar champs in 1962. Caught up in the catfight was the movie’s director, Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina) and studio exec Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci).
‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ cast cheat sheet includes Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Alfred Molina …
While the idea to co-star was Crawford’s, it was Davis who reaped the lion’s share of attention. Indeed, she earned a Best Actress bid and was determined to be the first three-time champ. But Crawford, who was smarting over her snub by the academy, worked behind-the-scenes to stop Davis from winning, even enlisting the help of her pal, gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Judy Davis). She arranged to accept the award on behalf of the eventual winner, Anne Bancroft (“The Miracle Worker”), who was appearing on Broadway.
FX’s ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ strikes perfect balance between campy and heart-wrenching
The multi-talented Murphy wrote and directed several episodes of the eight-episode order, including the first installment, and executive produced along with Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner of Plan B Entertainment. Set your DVRs for episode one, which will air on FX on March 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
