Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman are fantastic dramatic actors, but it looks like they’re going to be starring in a not-so-romantic-comedy about a couple going through a bitter divorce.
Check out the trailer for The Roses:
The tagline reads: “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.”
The movie is actually based on the novel The War of the Roses from Warren Adler that came out in the 80s, and a movie was actually released in ’89 which was directed by Danny DeVito. Now The Roses has Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) at the helm with Tony McNamara (Poor Things) providing the script.
Besides Cumberbatch and Colman, the movie also boasts a star-studded cast which includes Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, and Ncuti Gatwa.
Though rom-coms have mostly been going straight-to-streaming these days, The Roses is going to be aiming for a theatrical release, and I do hope that Cumberbatch and Colman have enough star power to actually draw people into the theatre to check out the movie.
Even if The Roses looks to be played out as a comedy, I think we should expect some intense drama between Cumberbatch and Colman eventually. With Roach himself having recently embraced more dramatic work with films like Bombshell and Trumbo, I am interested to see him come back to comedy, and I’m curious if his sense of humor will still manage to draw in modern audiences.
Catch The Roses when it comes to cinemas on Sept. 1.
