What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is a camp Hollywood classic that, like many Hollywood classics, would be really, really hard to replicate-- but that's not going to stop some people for trying anyway. Lakeshore Entertainment has stepped up to fund a remake of the 1962 film, with Walter Hill-- director of 48 Hrs. and The Warriors, among many others-- set to both write and direct.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hill acknowledges that the "first task is to find the proper casting for the two defining role"-- which means he's already identified the main reason his movie is practically doomed to failure. The main reason people remember and revere What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is its stars, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, two legendary screen icons of the 30s and 40s who famously hated each other, and who used that hatred to play two sisters hung up on their more glorious pasts and wasting away in a crumbling mansion. It's a deeply weird film that's still hugely entertaining, but the two original performances loom so large in the movie's very meaning that it's frankly impossible to imagine who could step into those shoes-- or who would want to.
There's no date set for production to begin, but with no cast yet attached I assume it will take a while to get that set. I honestly don't even want to speculate about which actresses might be willing to take on these roles, so if you dare, chime in with a comment. Personally I'm hoping I can ignore this project until it goes away on its own.
