These are the funniest people in the world
Two of Britain's most celebrated actors have turned their craft toward the oldest of human comedies — the unraveling of a marriage — in a reimagining of the 1989 dark classic The War of the Roses. Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch play Theo and Ivy, a couple whose domestic harmony collapses under the weight of professional jealousy and accumulated grievance, with the film arriving in theaters on August 29. That a blooper reel of their laughter has preceded the film into the world feels fitting: it is a reminder that the people who illuminate human suffering are not themselves consumed by it.
- A marriage built on shared success begins to fracture the moment one partner's star rises while the other's quietly falls — and the film does not flinch from where that imbalance leads.
- What begins as domestic tension escalates into scheming, cruelty, and eventually a scene where a gun is pointed between two people who once loved each other.
- Behind the darkness, a blooper reel surfaces showing Colman and Cumberbatch dissolved in laughter — a rare glimpse of joy inside a production built around pain.
- A comedy ensemble of unusual depth — Samberg, Janney, McKinnon, Gatwa, and others — surrounds the leads, signaling that the film intends to hold darkness and absurdity in the same hand.
- Directed by Jay Roach from a Tony McNamara script, The Roses opens August 29, carrying the weight of a cultural touchstone while reaching for something shaped by its own moment.
Searchlight Pictures offered an early glimpse inside The Roses this week through an exclusive blooper reel — footage that captures something the finished film cannot quite contain: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, two of the most accomplished actors working today, completely undone by laughter between takes. The film itself, arriving in theaters August 29, is a reimagining of the 1989 dark comedy The War of the Roses, with Colman and Cumberbatch playing Ivy and Theo, a married couple whose seemingly enviable life begins to come apart.
The story's engine is professional imbalance. As Ivy's ambitions flourish and Theo's architectural career quietly collapses, the marriage transforms — competition calcifies into resentment, small wounds accumulate, and what began as a loving partnership becomes something more volatile and dangerous. A trailer released in April traced this deterioration in real time, ending somewhere near a scene where Ivy holds a gun pointed at her husband, and the question of whether she might use it is left deliberately open.
The cast assembled around the two leads is remarkable in its range. Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, and several others join a production that Gatwa himself described as gathering "the funniest people in the world" in one place — a claim Colman deflected with characteristic modesty. Directed by Jay Roach from a script by Tony McNamara and based on Warren Adler's novel, the film inherits a story that has always refused to romanticize what marriage can become at its worst.
The blooper reel, in this light, functions as a kind of grace note — evidence that the people tasked with portraying genuine human cruelty found real pleasure in the work. The Roses opens August 29.
Searchlight Pictures gave People an exclusive window into the set of The Roses this week, releasing a blooper reel that captures something the finished film cannot: two of the world's finest actors completely undone by laughter. The movie, arriving in theaters August 29, is a reimagining of the 1989 classic The War of the Roses, and it stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch as Theo and Ivy, a married couple whose life begins to splinter when her career ascends while his crumbles.
In one moment from the blooper footage, Colman, 51, is screaming while holding a gun pointed at Cumberbatch, 48. In another, Cumberbatch attempts to reset a prop by spitting water back into a glass—a physical comedy bit that apparently did not survive the take. These are the kinds of moments that rarely make it past the editing bay, but they reveal something true about the production: the cast was having a genuinely good time, even while playing characters locked in a marriage that is coming apart at the seams.
The film itself tells a darker story. Theo and Ivy appear to have it all—successful careers, a loving marriage, children who seem well-adjusted. But the facade cracks quickly. As Theo's work as an architect dries up and Ivy's ambitions flourish, the marriage becomes a tinderbox. Competition hardens into resentment. Small slights accumulate. The couple begins to argue, then to scheme, then to escalate their plots against each other in ways that grow increasingly destructive. By the film's trajectory, Ivy is pointing that gun, and the question of whether she might actually use it hangs in the air.
The cast around Colman and Cumberbatch reads like a roster of comedy royalty. Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, and Kate McKinnon are all on board, along with Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Jamie Demetriou, and Zoë Chao. Ncuti Gatwa, who appears in the film, marveled at the assembly: "These are the funniest people in the world." Colman responded with characteristic self-deprecation, asking aloud how the production managed to land such talent.
The film was directed by Jay Roach, with a script by Tony McNamara. It is based on Warren Adler's novel, which was adapted into the 1989 film that has become a cultural touchstone—a dark comedy about marriage that refuses to look away from the ugliness that can fester beneath domestic contentment. This new version appears to be mining similar territory, though with a cast and sensibility shaped by contemporary comedy.
A trailer released in April showed the marriage's deterioration in real time: Theo growing frustrated by professional failure, the couple bickering, then arguing, then moving toward divorce. As the resentment deepens, their behavior toward each other becomes more hostile and creative in its cruelty. The gun scene appears to be the culmination of this arc—a moment where the marriage has not just failed but has become dangerous.
The exclusive blooper reel serves as a kind of counterweight to all that darkness. It reminds us that on set, between takes, these actors were laughing. The work of playing characters in genuine pain is serious, but the people doing it were finding joy in the process. The Roses opens August 29.
Citações Notáveis
These are the funniest people in the world— Ncuti Gatwa, on the cast
How the f--- did we get them?— Olivia Colman, laughing at the assembled talent
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a blooper reel matter for a film about a marriage falling apart? Doesn't it undercut the darkness?
Not really. It actually deepens it. You're watching two brilliant actors play people destroying each other, and then you see them laughing in the same space. It reminds you that the pain on screen is constructed, but also that the actors understood the material well enough to find the humanity in it—even the absurdity.
The original War of the Roses is pretty dark. Is this a straight remake or something different?
It's a reimagining. Same DNA—a marriage that looks perfect from outside but is actually a war zone—but with a different cast, a different era, and probably a different sensibility. The original is almost a horror film about domesticity. This one seems to be asking similar questions but through a comedy lens.
What's the actual conflict? Just career jealousy?
It starts there. He loses his job as an architect, she's thriving in her career. But that's just the spark. What really happens is that resentment metastasizes. They start playing games with each other. Small cruelties become bigger ones. By the end, she's pointing a gun at him.
That's a pretty dark place for a comedy to go.
Yes. But that's the point of remaking this story now. We're past the era where you can make a film about a marriage that's just a little bit rocky. This one goes to the edge.
And the cast—Samberg, Janney, McKinnon—they're all comedians. How does that tone work?
They're comedians, but they're also serious actors. They know how to play darkness with precision. The blooper reel shows they were having fun, but that doesn't mean they weren't taking the material seriously.