“The War of the Roses”
Remake with British “dream team”
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in “The War of the Roses” in 1989.
© imago/Ronald Grant
35 years after the original: “The War of the Roses” with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner is getting a remake. These stars are there.
“The War of the Roses” is getting a new edition. Like, among other things, the Hollywood insiders “Deadline” report that a remake of the black comedy from 1989 is currently being created under the title “The Roses”. We remember: In “The War of the Roses”, the original title at the time, Michael Douglas (79) and Kathleen Turner (69) wages a bitter divorce war as a wealthy couple. The film was directed by Danny DeVito (79), who also played Douglas’ divorce lawyer.
As successors to Douglas and Turner, the makers were able to recruit a top-class British duo of actors. Benedict “Sherlock” Cumberbatch (47) and Olivia Colman (50, Oscar for “The Favourite”) play the married couple named Rose. The two acting heavyweights also produce the film.
“Dream team” for “War of the Roses” remake
Directed by Jay Roach (66). The American became known with the “Austin Powers” films and also made a serious drama with “Bombshell” (2019) about sexual harassment for the US broadcaster Fox. Tony McNamara is writing the screenplay for “The Roses”. He wrote the script for “The Favorite” specifically for Olivia Colman, and in 2024 the Australian was nominated for an Oscar for his script for “Poor Things”, also by “The Favorite” director Yorgos Lanthimos (50).
“‘The Roses’ is an incredibly funny, larger-than-life, yet deeply human story,” Deadline quoted Matthew Greenfield, president of production company Searchlight. “With Jay at the helm, Benedict, Olivia and Tony, we have a dream team bringing them to life,” Greenfield continued.
That’s what “The Roses” is about
“Life seems easy for the picture-perfect couple Theo and Ivy,” says the official storyline. The Roses have “successful careers, great children, an enviable sex life. But behind the façade of the perfect family lies a powder keg of competition and resentment that ignites when Theo’s professional dreams are shattered.”
The aspect of Theo’s professional failure is new and brings contemporary gender tensions into play. In the original, Kathleen Turner’s Barbara simply realized that she no longer loved Michael Douglas’ Oliver. The war was sparked by the shared house that Barbara claimed as her own because she had furnished it and raised her two children in it.
Like the remake, “The War of the Roses” was based on the 1981 novel “The War of the Roses” by Warren Adler (1927-2019). Danny DeVito’s adaptation was a success with both audiences and critics. At the Golden Globes there was a nomination for best comedy, as well as for Douglas and Turner as best actors in this genre. In Germany, the title, which alludes to the late medieval wars for the English throne, entered into linguistic usage as a synonym for the War of Divorce.