A trailer has been released for the star-studded and highly anticipated film The Roses, from Searchlight Pictures. The film, releasing August 29, 2025, comes from director Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Fockers) and writer Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Cruella, Poor Things), and is an adaptation of the classic 1981 novel The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. The Roses stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao, and Kate McKinnon. Check out the trailer below.
“Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic film The War of the Roses, based on the novel by Warren Adler.”
‘The War of the Roses’ Is an Underrated Comedy Classic
Danny DeVito is known for his great performances, from Batman Returns to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but he’s also an excellent director. He directed the cult comedies Throw Momma from the Train and Death to Smoochy, along with the kids’ classic, Matilda, but his best film as a director is arguably The War of the Roses from 1989. The movie starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner (both of whom earned Golden Globe nominations) as a wealthy couple whose divorce begins to ruin their lives. Great material for a comedy, right?
The War of the Roses is a pitch black comedy, and pitch perfect at that. DeVito had previously worked with Douglas and Turner on the wonderful adventure romances, Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, and it’s possible the comfort and understanding he had with the actors helped them to give two of their greatest performances. They’re incredible as the film builds and builds from anxious tension to cacophonous rage.
The film was a hit, grossing $160 million from a $26 million budget, and was well-liked by critics. Roger Ebert wrote at the time, “The War of the Roses is a black, angry, bitter, unrelenting comedy, a war between the sexes that makes James Thurber’s work on the same subject look almost resigned by comparison. And yet the Roses fell so naturally and easily into love, in those first sunny days so long ago.” We’ll have to see how the 2025 remake fares in comparison; The Roses hits theaters August 29, 2025. In the meantime, The War of the Roses is available to rent or buy on digital platforms.
