Benedict Cumberbatch & Olivia Colman Team With Jay Roach On ‘The War Of The Roses’ Reimagining For Searchlight
01.04.2024 - 20:03
/ deadline.com
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite) have been tapped to star in The Roses, a reimagining of the 1989 classic The War of the Roses, which Jay Roach (Bombshell) will direct for Searchlight Pictures.
Currently in development, the dark comedy’s logline is as follows: Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Theo (Cumberbatch) and Ivy (Colman): successful careers, great kids, an 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.
Directed by Danny DeVito and starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, the original film adaptation of The War of the Roses was released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1989, garnering a BAFTA and three Golden Globe nominations, including for Best Motion Picture, among other accolades.
Tony McNamara (Poor Things) has scripted Searchlight’s new take on the novel by Warren Adler. Cumberbatch produces under his SunnyMarch banner, along with Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland, who have been in development on the project since 2017, as well as Colman, Ed Sinclair and Tom Carver for South of the River, Roach, and Michelle Graham.
Jonathan R. Adler and Michael Adler, from Adler Entertainment Trust, are executive producing as the first project under their company’s two-year first-look deal with the studio. Paul Hoffman negotiated the overall deal on behalf of the studio, with Jeff Silberman of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano for Adler Entertainment Trust. Searchlight VP of Production Richard Ruiz and Director of Development & Production Pete Spencer are overseeing the project, reporting into Searchlight Production Heads DanTram Nguyen and