'The Roses' Trailer Presents Benedict Cumberbatch vs. Olivia Colman

Our first look at buzzy feature film The Roses is here, and it's essentially got awards-bait written all over it. From the star-studded cast, led by Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (The Thing with Feathers) and Oscar winner Olivia Colman (Wicked Little Letters), to its buzzy pedigree, everything about the movie (except its slightly confusing August release date) looks like it's destined to not only gain significant critical attention, but appeal to that very specific audience demographic that likes so-called "movies for adults". 

Based on the novel of the same name by Warren Adler, the original The War of the Roses was both a critical and box office success. The thirteenth highest-grossing film of 1989, it also earned three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Comedy. The film reteamed Romancing the Stone stars Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner for a much darker and more biting project. The duo played Oliver and Barbara Rose, a wealthy couple with a seemingly perfect marriage. But when their relationship begins to crumble, their belongings — specifically their lavish mansion — become the center of their increasingly vicious divorce battle. 

Helmed by Danny DeVito, the original film is surprisingly violent (both emotionally and physically) and hails from a time when divorce looked a bit different than it does today. It was still shocking, then, the idea that women who sacrificed their own professional lives to support their husbands' career successes might deserve some compensation for it. The movie is most frequently billed as a battle of the sexes as original characters Oliver and Barbara battle for control of their lavish house, but it's one in which neither can win, and the only people who truly triumph are the lawyers. 

If anything, The Roses seems that it will feature a broader sort of comedy than its predecessor (a scene in the trailer literally features Cumberbatch and Colman throwing food at one another), but it's hard to immediately discount anything that will provide two such acting powerhouses with the opportunity to face off onscreen. 

The pair will play married couple Theo and Ivy, whose relationship sours when a sudden shift in both their professional fortunes unmasks darker feelings of competition and resentment between them. In a twist on the original story, this time it's wife Ivy whose career begins to skyrocket just as her husband's starts to crater. In the '80s film, wife Barbara wants the house because she says she's the one who turned it into a home. In this version, it's the reimagined architect husband, Theo, who asks for the house in the divorce because he's the one who designed it. The shift might seem inconsequential, but it's the sort of change in the central dynamic that should impact the rest of the story in new and surprising ways.

Here's the film's synopsis. 

Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo: 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.

Alongside Colman and Cumberbatch, The Roses boasts an all-star ensemble that includes U.K. actors Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who) and Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag), Australian actor Belinda Bromilow (The Great), and American actors Andy Samberg (Lee), Allison Janney (The Diplomat),  Zoë Chao (Modern Love), and Kate McKinnon (Yesterday). Tony McNamara, the series creator behind The Great and an Oscar nominee for Poor Things, penned the script. 

The film is directed by Jay Roach (Bombshell), who also executive produces with Michelle Graham, Ed Sinclair, and Tom Carver. Cumberbatch is producing under his SunnyMarch banner alongside the company's Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland.

The Roses will officially hit theaters on Friday, August 29, 2025.