HBO picks up Kate Winslet miniseries

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Todd Haynes' "Mildred Pierce" is headed to HBO.

The cable network has picked up the five-hour miniseries starring Kate Winslet, which Haynes is directing.

The project is the second major screen adaptation of James M. Cain's classic noir novel. The 1945 feature by Michael Curtiz earned Joan Crawford an Academy Award for the title role.

Winslet, who won an Oscar last year for "The Reader," will play Mildred Pierce Beragon, a proud single mother struggling to earn her daughter's love during the Great Depression in middle-class Los Angeles.

Haynes and Jon Raymond wrote the script for the project. Haynes' writing/directing credits include "I'm Not There" and "Far From Heaven."

Casting for the other roles is under way.

The Haynes/Winslet take on "Mildred Pierce" had been percolating for a month, with HBO considered the leading contender. The network will co-produce the miniseries with MGM, Killer Films and John Wells Prods.

For HBO, the green light for "Mildred Pierce" follows the critical success of another longform project toplined by feature stars, the movie "Grey Gardens," starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.