A remake of 1980s divorce comedy The War of the Roses is to go ahead with Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead roles.
In an announcement reported by Deadline, studio Searchlight Pictures said that Colman and Cumberbatch would appear in a new version of the story directed by Austin Powers’ Jay Roach and written by Poor Things’ Tony McNamara. Searchlight president Matthew Greenfield said: “The Roses is a wildly funny, bigger than life, and yet deeply human story … With Jay at the helm, and Benedict and Olivia and Tony, we have a dream team bringing it to life.”
The original film version of The Wars of the Roses was released in 1989, and starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as an apparently well-matched couple whose marriage breakdown turns into an epic battle of wills over the divorce settlement. It was directed by Danny DeVito, who also appeared in the film as a lawyer.
The current project, which has been in development since 2017, is reportedly a “reimagining” of the source novel by the late Warren Adler, published in 1981. Production companies associated with both lead actors are involved: Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch, which is also credited on The End We Start From, The Courier, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, and Colman’s South of the River (Wicked Little Lies). Adler’s sons Jonathan and Michael are also credited, as part of a deal between Searchlight and Adler’s estate.