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      *A 2007 update will be given to a 1939 film about the most viciously catty group of wealthy Caucasian characters ever to hit the big screen.

       George Cukor’s “The Women,” starring such screen legends as Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and Joan Fontaine, will be remade by director Diane English with a multi-cultural cast that includes Jada Pinkett Smith, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Debra Messing and Candice Bergen.     

      In the original 1939 film set in the world of rich Manhattan socialites, a snobby housewife brags about her loyal husband to her friends at the department store nail salon, only to find out through salon gossip that he’s cheating on her with the clerk at the perfume counter.      

      English has been trying to remake this film for 10 years before Picturehouse, Inferno Entertainment and soap makers Dove agreed to finance it for under $20 million. The sheer bitchiness of the characters in the original has scared off a number of actresses sought for potential remakes, reports Variety.      

      Attempts were made at MGM before the title sold with the MGM library to Ted Turner. The current version took root right after Turner bought New Line and set up "The Women" as a star/producing pairing of Julia Roberts and Ryan, with James L. Brooks planning to direct.      

      English signed on to write the script shortly thereafter, at a time when she was the hottest writer on television thanks to "Murphy Brown." English became attached as the project's director in 2001 and will reteam with that sitcom's star, Bergen in the remake.     

      Shooting is scheduled to begin on Aug. 6.