THE ROSES
‘Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite) star in The Roses, a reimagining of the 1989 classic The War of the Roses that Jay Roach (Bombshell) will direct for Searchlight Pictures. Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Theo (Cumberbatch) and Ivy (Colman): successful careers, great kids, an enviable sex life. But underneath the façade of the perfect family is a tinderbox of competition and resentments that’s ignited when Theo’s professional dreams come crashing down. Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg have joined the cast along with Ncuti Gatwa, Sunita Mani, Zoë Chao, Jamie Demetriou and Belinda Bromilow.
Tony McNamara (Poor Things) has scripted Searchlight’s new take on the novel by Warren Adler. Cumberbatch produces under his SunnyMarch banner; along with Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland. Colman, Ed Sinclair and Tom Carver Produce for South of the River Pictures. Roach and Michelle Graham round out the producing team.
WICKER
On the outskirts of a village by the sea, lives a Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman); smelly, single and perpetually ridiculed. One day, fed up with her stuffy, small-minded neighbors, she commissions herself a husband to be made from wicker. In an otherwise conservative town, this unconventional romance sparks outrage, jealousy and chaos. WICKER is an enchanting, timeless and twisted love story that turns traditional conventions upside down. Fresh, bold and distinctive, this character driven satire pokes fun at just how quickly the moral fabric of our society can unravel when faced with anything or anyone different.
Black Bear has launched international sales on Wicker, an enchanting, hilariously twisted romance starring Academy Award® winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Lost Daughter). Filmmaking duo, Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson (Save Yourselves!) will direct from a script they adapted based on the short story, “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills-Jones.
Topic Studios (Spencer, The Mauritanian) and Tango (Aftersun, WEIRD: The Weird Al Yankovic Story) will fully finance and produce, alongside South of The River, Yoki, Inc. and Votiv, who originated and financed development. The film is due to start production in 2024.
WICKED LITTLE LETTERS
‘Funny as f***’– Wendy Ide, Screen International
‘Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley Are Having a F***ing Blast’– Esther Zuckerman, Vanity Fair
Joyously reunited on screen in a flurry of f***s, s***s and b******s are stars Olivia Colman (The Crown, The Favourite, The Lost Daughter) and Jessie Buckley (Men, Women Talking, The Lost Daughter), spanning the full spectrum of profanity in a wildly entertaining tete-a-tete.
WICKED LITTLE LETTERS will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on Friday 23 February 2024.
A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.
LANDSCAPERS
Produced by Sister in association with South of the River Pictures, LANDSCAPERS is an exhilarating and darkly funny tale of love and fantasy, explored through the lives of convicted killers Susan (Olivia Colman) and Christopher Edwards (David Thewlis).
Written by Ed Sinclair for Sky/ HBO, LANDSCAPERS asks how this devoted and mild-mannered real-life couple came to kill Susan’s parents and bury them in the back garden of their Mansfield home, in a crime that remained undiscovered for over a decade.
Pivoting through various perspectives – from Susan and Christopher's to that of the police officers and lawyers involved in the investigation – the drama invites the audience into the surreal fantasy world that Susan and Christopher created by casting themselves as Hollywood heroes in stories of their own invention. This is the story of a unique murder case involving four lives lived on the margins of society. Will Sharpe (Giri/Haji, Flowers) directs, and co-writes 2 episodes.
LANDSCAPERS won 3 BAFTA Craft awards in 2022.