Academy Award winner Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, both British and played characters in Marvel Cinematic Universe, are about to get a very nasty divorce in the remake of the 1989 film The War of the Roses, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The original film starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen turner. It was directed by Danny DeVito. The movie was based on Warren Adler's 1981 novel of the same name.
The War of the Roses in the 21st Century
The remake will be directed by Jay Roach, who made his name in 2008's Recount and 2019's Bombshell. The movie is still in development and the script was written by Academy Award-nominated Tony McNamara, who wrote Poor Things.
The film follows a wealthy married couple Oliver and Barbara Rose. From the outside, their marriage looks picture perfect. However, it begins to fall apart and they fight over their material possessions during their bitter and acrimonious divorce.
The film and the novel's title alludes to the historical battle between the cadet branches of the Plantagenet House — the houses of York and Lancaster — in contention for the English throne during the late middle ages. It was called the Wars of the Roses in reference to the heraldic badges of both houses: white rose for the Yorks and red rose for the Lancasters.
The wars ended when Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) defeated Richard III (from the House of York) at Bosforth Field. Henry married Elizabeth of York (daughter of King Edward IV), and united the rival families. Henry and Elizabeth essentially founded the House of Tudor which ruled England until 1603 when Elizabeth I died without an heir.
When the film was released in Germany, it became a huge success that its German title Der Rosenkrieg is now regular used to mean a high-conflict divorce.
Cumberbatch also serves as a producer under his production company SunnyMarch. Colman also serves as a producer under her South of the River production company.
The author's sons Jonathan and Michael from Adler Entertainment Trust serve as executive producers.
These are not the Lancasters and Yorks you're looking for
Cumberbatch was nominated twice for an Academy Award for best actor for his performances in 2014's The Imitation Game and 2022's The Power of the Dog. He's most well-known for his portrayal of Sherlock in the BBC series and as Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actor was most recently seen in Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, based on a Roald Dahl short story, for Netflix. He has another Netflix limited series coming up, Eric, which is set to premiere on May 30.
Colman won an Academy Award for best actress for Yorgos Lanthimos' 2018 film The Favourite. She was nominated twice more: for best supporting actress for 2020's The Father and best actress for 2021's The Lost Daughter.
The actress was most recently seen in last year's Wonka, the seventh highest-grossing film of 2023, according to Box Office Mojo. She was also in the 2023 British black comedy thriller Wicked Little Letters which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her upcoming project is Paddington in Peru currently in post-production.
Roach recently served as executive producer in the Apple TV+ comedy series High Desert.
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