Walter Hill Directing, Writing Remake of ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’

The Bette Davis and Joan Crawford horror classic "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" will get a 21st-century revamp from "48 Hrs." director Walter Hill

Walter Hill, the man best known for "The Warriors" and "48 Hrs.," is mounting a remake of the horror classic "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

That may sound like sacrilege to fans of the macabre chiller, but Hill is doing so with the blessing of the family of the late Robert Aldrich, the director of the original 1962 film. 

“I am greatly honored that Walter Hill will be joining us in the collaboration of this film. I know that he will respect the material and the legacy of this terrific project,” Adell Aldrich, the director's daughter, said in a statement.

Adell Aldrich will share producer credit with Hill, who has entered into a partnership agreement with the Aldrich Company to direct and adapt the screenplay.  

The film is something of a departure for Hill, a director who is highly regarded for his male-dominated action films, as "Baby Jane" focuses on two strong females who are pitted against each other in a crumbling Hollywood mansion. 

Also read: Horror Films: Blood, Gore and a Tasty Profit

The film revolves around Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen from the 30’s forced into retirement after a crippling accident. The pair live together in a toxic state of co-dependency that takes a bloody turn for the worse. 

No word on casting of the two juicy leads, but Hill implied in a statement that they would have to have significant pedigrees given that the original 1962 film starred Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Davis got nominated for an Oscar, Crawford did not (and she was none too pleased). 

"The two equal leads demand great performers — that is a given," Hill said. "The intensity of the gothic storyline makes a reconfiguration of the drama still a potentially searing experience. The idea is to make a modern film without modernizing the period. It needs to resonate [with] the golden age of Hollywood.”

Hill most recently directed the action thriller "Bullet to the Head," starring Sylvester Stallone, which will be released by Warner Bros. in February 2013.

Hill is represented by John Burnham and Jeff Berg of ICM Partners and Eric Brooks at Bloom, Hergott, Diemer. The Aldrich Company is represented by Eric Weissmann.

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