I hope Drew Barrymore knows what she's getting into. HBO Films recently greenlighted a film based on Grey Gardens, which will star Barrymore as Little Edie Beale and Jessica Lange as her mother, Big Edie. Michael Sucsy directs; he co-wrote the script with Patricia Rozema.

The film is based on the Maysles brothers 1975 documentary that followed the Beales as they went about their days in a crumbling, trash-filled mansion on Long Island. The reclusive pair were relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and their odd lifestyle was exposed by a National Enquirer article; the Suffolk County Health Department subsequently threatened them with eviction.

The documentary has a rabid cult following – check out official fansite host Guy Kettelhack’s detailed parsing of each of his four viewings. And the 2006 Broadway musical adaptation delivered Tony Awards to stars Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson. So the road ahead for Barrymore is heavily mined.