Director Todd Hayes (‘Far From Heaven’) teams up with producer Christine Vachon with whom he made the Bob Dylan fantasy feature ‘I’m Not There’, to make a five parter for HBO no less of the James M. Cain novel ‘Mildred Pierce’, made famous by Joan Crawford in 1945.

By all accounts, Kate is acting her cotton socks off in the role which requires a lot of fury and slapping. At least that’s what Joan Crawford had to do.

Joan Crawford talks in black and white about ‘Mildred Pierce’.

The twist in the plot is that divorcee Mildred’s bitchy little daughter, for whom she sacrifices everything, is now an opera singer, who smokes, sleeps with men and mouths off to her hard-working mom. Rachel Evans Wood (‘The Wrestler’) plays the adult Veda with Guy Pearce as the ‘tashed Monty Beragon.

HBO will show the mini-series in spring of 2011.

Watch the HBO trailer for ‘Mildred Pierce’ then, watch the original ‘Mildred Pierce’ trailer.