Ryan Murphy has set his sights on the unhappy union of Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana as the next installment of “Feud,” which has grabbed a 10-episode order from FX. The deal comes as a big vote of confidence in Murphy and his team from FX. The first eight-episode season of “Feud” is set to premiere on Sunday, focusing on the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during the making of 1963’s “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”
Murphy is teaming with Jon Robin Baitz to write the Charles and Diana story. Dede Gardner, Plan B Entertainment and Alexis Martin Woodall will exec produce “Feud: Charles and Diana” with Murphy and Baitz for Fox 21 Television Studios. Plan B is also producing “Feud: Bette and Joan.”
Charles and Diana were married in a 1981 wedding that became a worldwide media event, turning the 20-year-old princess into a global superstar. But behind the royal grandeur the couple was miserable from the get-go, as has been well-documented during the past 30 years. The pair formally divorced in 1996, just a year before Diana’s tragic death at the age of 36 following a car crash in Paris.
The second season order cements “Feud’s” status as the third entry in Murphy’s anthological series canon for FX. The “American Horror Story” franchise is heading into its seventh season later this year. “American Crime Story” launched last year to universal acclaim and a boatload of awards for “The People V. O.J. Simpson.” Murphy and his team are already working on the next two installments of “Crime Story,” one focusing on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the other revolving around the 1997 murder of fashion kingpin Gianni Versace.
