The Roses is set for a disappointing debut. The new comedy movie is an adaptation of Warren Adler’s The War of the Roses, which was adapted into a hit movie directed by Danny DeVito in 1989. All three versions of the story follow the exaggeratedly acrimonious divorce between a married couple, the Roses.

2025’s The Roses, which was directed by Jay Roach (Bombshell, Austin Powers) stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as the тιтular couple, Theo and Ivy. The ensemble cast of the movie also includes Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Zoë Chao, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, Sunita Mani, and Allison Janney.

Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, as of Saturday morning, The Roses is projected to end its opening weekend at the domestic box office with a 4-day total of $7.35 million through Labor Day Monday. This is considerably less than the $9.5 million debut of the original The War of the Roses, and that movie only had a 3-day opening weekend in December 1989.

What This Means For The Roses

There are other factors that emphasize how underwhelming the debut of the Benedict Cumberbatch movie is compared to the original hit. For instance, when adjusted for inflation, The War of the Roses‘ 3-day opening weekend total comes out to roughly $24.3 million, which is more than triple the remake’s current projections.

Additionally, The War of the Roses had an uncommonly huge multiplier of more than 9 times its opening weekend, eventually grossing $86.9 million at the domestic box office by the end of its run. This was a huge return on investment, as its reported budget was only $26 million.

While the budget of The Roses has not yet been reported, it could very well suffer if it cost the same amount or more. In addition to coming in below the original’s unadjusted debut, The Roses does not seem likely to have a similarly strong multiplier.

This is because it is tracking to debut below fellow new release Caught Stealing as well as the ongoing release of Weapons and the re-release of Jaws, which indicates a general lack of audience interest in the comedy. Additionally, the movie’s B+ CinemaScore is solid, but not necessarily strong enough for a huge word-of-mouth push.

Our Take On The Roses’ Debut

There are multiple reasons why the movie may be suffering this disappointment. In addition to the compeтιтion it faces at the box office at the end of the summer movie season, The Roses reviews have been underwhelming, earning it a middling 63% score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to the original’s Certified Fresh 84%.

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