Baby’s Back

It looks like that creepy classic of Grand Guignol, “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?,” will be remade by producer William Aldrich--son of the late Robert Aldrich, who directed the 1962 cult favorite.

The son, the fourth-assistant director on the original at age 17 who went on to produce a dozen of his dad’s pics, reports “deep discussions” with a director for the new “Jane.”

Scripted by genre meister Brian Taggert (“Poltergeist III,” “Of Unknown Origin”), the new version is set in contemporary Hollywood and (again) involves two battling sisters. As per the original, one’s a washed-up former child star.

No casting yet, but don’t look for movie veterans a la the original duo, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis: “We’ve changed the ages. Now they’re in their late 30s to early 40s,” said Aldrich. In an earlier incarnation, he said, there was talk about Joan Collins and Linda Evans! “But that wasn’t the movie I envisioned.”

Writer Taggert said the new script “has opened up the story a bit” but retains the original’s horror: “What we have here is a horror version of ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ This is a project that slaps Hollywood around. That’s something audiences love to see.”