A new reimagining of The War of the Roses is on the way. Olivia Coleman and Benedict Cumberbatch have been cast in The Roses, directed by Jay Roach.
The movie stars Coleman, Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Jamie Demetriou, Hala Finley, Sunita Mani, Zoe Chao and, everyone’s favourite Dr Who, Ncuti Gatwa. Roach is directing, with Tony McNamara penning the screenplay, based on Warren Adler’s novel, originally titled The War of the Roses.
McNamara wrote Cruella and, annoyingly, its sequel, which is in production. He also created The Great, starring Elle Fanning and Nicolas Hoult, and worked on Poor Things. Make of that what you will.
The story for The Roses:
A tinderbox of competition and resentments underneath the façade of a picture-perfect couple is ignited when the husband’s professional dreams come crashing down.
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner starred in the original War of the Roses, which was made in 1989. Danny De Vito co-starred and directed it. I don’t recall much about the original, it’ll have to go on the watch list again.
According to Wiki, the War of the Roses was a series of civil wars that were fought over the English throne from 1455 to 1487. I don’t recall any of that in the original movie. I thought it was about Douglas and Turner trying to drive each other out of the house after a difficult divorce.
Searchlight’s president, Matthew Greenfield:
“The Roses is a wildly funny, bigger than life, and yet deeply human story.”
The Roses will be released on the 29th of August.