The Women scheduled for a modern makeover

The famous Clare Booth Luce play The Women is scheduled to make its second debut on the silver screen, Daily Variety reported on Thursday. Following a decade of failed attempts, writer and director Diane English has a set cast and an Aug. 6 start date to begin filming a remake of the classic 1939 film.

Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing, and Candice Bergen have either joined or are near committing to the all-female cast in a contemporary version of the classic directed by George Cukor. The project's modest $20 million budget has been financed by Picturehouse, Inferno Entertainment, and female-friendly cosmetics company Dove. Jagged Pictures partners Victoria Pearman and Mick Jagger will produce the film.

While numerous attempts were made to remake the film, it was not until 1994 that the current project began to develop as a star/producer pairing of Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan. Enjoying the success of her television sitcom Murphy Brown, English was drafted to write the script soon after. In 2001 she was selected as the project's director.

The original 1939 film's star-studded cast included Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell among others. This witty-- and at times brutal--comedy follows a group of female socialites who discover that the woman they envied most has a cheating husband. While English's script retains the fast-paced wit and all-female cast of the classic film, the girls are rumored to be less catty in this incarnation. (The Advocate)