The War of the Roses (film)

The War of the Roses
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDanny DeVito
Screenplay byMichael J. Leeson
Based onThe War of the Roses
by Warren Adler
Produced byJames L. Brooks
Arnon Milchan
Starring
CinematographyStephen H. Burum
Edited byLynzee Klingman
Music byDavid Newman
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 8, 1989 (1989-12-08)
Running time
116 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$26 million[2]
Box office$160 million[3]

The War of the Roses is a 1989 American satirical black comedy film based upon the 1981 novel by Warren Adler. The film follows a wealthy couple with a seemingly perfect marriage. When their marriage begins to fall apart, material possessions become the center of an outrageous and bitter divorce battle.

The film co-stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito. The three actors had previously worked together in Romancing the Stone and its sequel The Jewel of the Nile. DeVito directed the film, which also had producer James L. Brooks and actor Dan Castellaneta working on a project outside of The Simpsons. The opening title sequence was created by Saul Bass and Elaine Makatura Bass.

In both the novel and the film, the married couple's family name is Rose, and the title is an allusion to the battles between the warring houses of York and Lancaster who were contending for the English throne during the late Middle Ages. In Germany, the film was such a huge success that its German title Der Rosenkrieg became synonymous with high-conflict divorce and is now regularly used in the media.[4]

  1. ^ "The War of the Roses (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 4, 1990. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  2. ^ "The War of the Roses (1989)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The First 100 Years 1893–1993. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference The War of the Roses was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Rosenkrieg". Educalingo.com.