A new TV show from the man behind American Horror Story and American Crime Story is set to put the marriage and divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana under the microscope.
While the first season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud only premiered in the US back in March (with a UK release date yet to be confirmed), the focus of its second round has already been announced. An anthology show which takes a different real-life ‘feud’ as its theme each season, Charles and Diana will delve into the ups and downs of the tumultuous royal marriage. The 10 episode series is slated to arrive on our screens next year.
Speaking at an Emmy panel event, Murphy confirmed that the show would begin shooting ‘in the late fall’ of this year, and that he is currently in the process of ‘casting Charles and Diana.’
Though the exact details of the show’s arc aren’t yet clear, Murphy did drop two major spoilers, revealing that ‘Charles and Diana’s story literally begins with filing the divorce papers.’
‘It’s about that pain of the dissolving of a fairytale, particularly for Diana. It starts with the filing of divorce papers and takes you up until her death.’
Casting details for Charles and Diana are yet to be announced, but given the calibre of talent which Murphy’s projects tend to attract, we’re crossing our fingers for some major names. The showrunner described Diana in particular as ‘the Scarlett O’Hara of parts,’ alluding to the infamous scramble to take the lead role in the 1939 classic Gone With The Wind.
‘There are so many women who want to play that part, and there are so many women who are physically right for it,’ he added.
The first instalment of Feud dealts with one of film’s most notorious rivalries, exploring the fraught relationship between two superstars of Hollywood’s golden age, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, as they worked together on the 1962 film What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Susan Sarandon took the part of Davis, while frequent Murphy collaborator Jessica Lange played Joan Crawford.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter of his plans for future series earlier this year, Murphy hinted that ‘I don’t want to do another woman-to-woman feud, and I certainly would never do another Hollywood feud because I don’t think you can top Bette and Joan.’
‘I’m interested in this show being a two-hander that’s really about the human dilemma of pain and misunderstanding, And I think you need a long period of time, maybe 20 to 40 years, to have a big backstory,’ he added.
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