‘The Roses’ By Jay Roach.
“The Roses” is a satirical black comedy drama, directed by Jay Roach. A reimagining of the 1989 classic “The War of the Roses” directed by Danny DeVito. The remake will star Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman in the lead. Academy Award winner Tony McNamara (Poor Things) is writing the screenplay. The film is set up at Searchlight. Benedict will produce under his SunnyMarch banner, along with Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland.
In April 2024, Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, The Imitation Game) and Olivia Colman (Wonka, The Bear) were announce to star in and produce a remake of “The War of the Roses”. In June, Kate Mckinnon (Finding Dory), Andy Samberg (Palm Springs, Brooklyn Nine Nine), Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) and Sunita Mani (Save Yourselves) were added to the cast.
Logline: Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Theo (Cumberbatch) and Ivy (Colman): successful careers, great kids, and enviable sex life. But underneath the façade of the perfect family is a tinderbox of competition and resentments that’s ignited when Theo’s professional dreams come crashing down.
Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland have been developing the project since 2017. Jay Roach was hired to direct the reimagining of DeVito’s “The War of the Roses” (1989), which itself was an adaptation of the Warren Adler novel of the same name. The 1989 film starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. It garnered a BAFTA and three Golden Globe nominations, including for Best Motion Picture.
Tony McNamara has been hired to write the remake. He is coming off of his Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things”. He earned his first nomination for 2018’s period dark comedy “The Favorite”, also helmed by Lanthimos. He is also known for creating Hulu’s “The Great”, which ran for three seasons.
Filming began on June 10, 2024.
Jay Roach’s recent credits include the Apple series “High Desert”. He also directed “Bombshell”, “Trumbo” and “All the Way” for HBO. He was recently announced as the director for the upcoming Ocean’s Eleven prequel reteaming Barbie’s Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Speaking about the film, Roach stated; “When Searchlight sent me Tony McNamara’s script, I was skeptical, because I loved the original film, But as a fan of Tony’s darkly hilarious writing, and with Olivia and Benedict attached, I should have known it would go a new and wonderful direction. Adding in this phenomenal dream cast will make this relatable love-story/divorce story a wild cautionary tale”.
Florian Hoffmeister is chosen as the cinematographer for the film. The German DP is best known for his work on “Tar”, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.
The film is in development. Searchlight have not set a release date as of yet.
