They were two of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis: fierce, defiant women who ended up embroiled in one of the most infamous rivalries in all of Hollywood history, reaching a peak when the pair finally starred opposite each other in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.

It's the backstage drama of this particular production that American Horror Story and American Crime Story's Ryan Murphy hopes to explore in Feud, his newest drama series placing the inimitable Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon in the roles of Joan and Bette.

Feud is, like all of Murphy's productions, a truly star-studded affair: with Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland, Alfred Molina as director Robert Aldrich, Judy Davis as Hedda Hopper, Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell, and Murphy regular Sarah Paulson as Geraldine Page.

The series will begin when Crawford and Davis first agree to star in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?; a production during which Davis allegedly kicked Crawford in the head, while Crawford actively campaigned against her co-star after she was nominated for an Academy Award for the film.

It's the first of these incidents that forms one of Feud's short but sweet teasers, alongside another which highlights Catherine Zeta-Jones' glamorous turn as de Havilland.



"I wasn’t interested in just doing this broad, campy [show],” Murphy said of the show. "I was interested in the idea of sexism, ageism, misogyny. Turning 40, 45, 50 and feeling like you’re at the height of your powers and people saying, ‘Well, you’re done.’"