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While the first season of his Feud TV show on FX took a deep dive into the divide between feature film doyens Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, creator Ryan Murphy is heading across the pond for season two in Feud: Charles and Diana. Feud, season one, stars Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, Alison Wright, Dominic Burgess, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, and Kiernan Shipka.

Showrunner Murphy is writing the second season of Feud with Jon Robin Baitz, late of The Slap, which was cancelled by NBC after one season in 2015. The two are executive producing with Dede Gardner, Plan B Entertainment, and Alexis Martin Woodall.

FX renewed Feud for season two on February 28th, ahead of the first season premiere. The next installment of ten episodes will debut in 2018, and Murphy is currently casting the leads for season two. In a “For Your Consideration” Emmy panel, Murphy talked about season two of Feud: Charles and Diana. THR reports:

“Having a show called Feud is interesting because…feuds are about pain,” Murphy said Friday during a For Your Consideration panel for Emmy voters. “So Charles and Diana’s story literally begins with the filing of the divorce papers. And it’s about that pain, the dissolving of a fairy tale, particularly for Diana. It starts with the filing of divorce papers and takes you up until her death.”

While season one was based on the script Best Actress by Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam, there is currently no source material associated with the sophomore outing. Murphy said subsequent seasons of Feud will focus on different types of battles and that the franchise is unlikely to feature another woman-to-woman clash. “I’m interested in this show being a two-hander that’s really about the human dilemma of pain and misunderstanding,” he told THR. “I think you need a long period of time, maybe 20 to 40 years, to have a big backstory.”

[…]

Charles and Diana offers a chance to explore the royals and the power, glamor, celebrity and media scrutiny that came with their story. Charles and Diana’s July 1981 wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral was broadcast around the globe to an estimated 750 million viewers. Diana remained in the public spotlight during her marriage and was hailed for her involvement in numerous charities. Media scrutiny escalated after Diana and Charles divorced in August 1996. She was killed in a car crash in Paris a year later. Her funeral attracted more than 32 million viewers in the U.K. alone.

Deadline adds:

Season 2 will focus on Prince Charles and Princess Diana, beginning with divorce and ending with Diana’s death, according to Murphy.

“The next one is about Charles and Diana,” he confirmed at an FX Emmy event in Los Angeles tonight. “We are shooting I think in the late fall and I’m casting Charles and Diana.”

[…]

Season 2 will also see Sarandon and Lange continuing their tenure as producers on the show, Murphy said.

“I think having a show called Feud is interesting,” Murphy said, “because I love when Cathy (Zeta-Jones, as Olivia de Havilland) says feuds are about pain. So Charles and Diana’s story literally begins with filing the divorce papers. It’s about that pain of the dissolving of a fairy tale, particularly for Diana. It starts with the filing of divorce papers and takes you up until her death.”

Asked whether Sarandon and Lange will also have roles in the next season, Murphy said, “Always, always.”

What do you think? Have you watched the first season of Murphy’s Feud TV series on FX? Do you plan to tune in for the second season, Feud: Charles and Diana?