Sordid Murder and Sex: Todd Haynes Directing Kate Winslet in Mildred Pierce Miniseries

The fascination for Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce continues. After Pedro Almodovar integrated parts of the film in the storyline for Volver, Todd Haynes will be making Mildred into miniseries mode and into a less straight jacket version than his homage to Douglas Sirk with Far From Heaven: meaning I’m expecting Haynes to be more faithful to the original novel written by James M. Cain than, the 1945 film. Logically, the miniseries will find a home with HBO (Vachon’s Killer Films sided with them for Mrs Harris). 

Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet is on board to play the role that Joan Crawford won an Academy Award for – it being a bored housewife who gets into the restaurant business, an enterprise that leads to back-stabbing, romance and murder. Here is the original trailer for the Warner Bros film. If this goes into production, this will be the first time I’m really psyched about a miniseries.

Next question, who do you think we should cast as the Winslet’s series of jilted lovers?