Steve Coogan stars in Armando Iannucci’s West End adaptation of Dr Strangelove, which will be broadcast in cinemas next year.
“You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!” is one of the most iconic quotes from Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 masterpiece Dr Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying About The Bomb. Starring Peter Sellers in multiple roles, it told the story of a rogue US general who triggers a nuclear crisis.
Kubrick directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Terry Southern and Peter George.
Satirist Armando Iannucci, who himself co-wrote and directed a film about useless politicians inadvertently triggering a war, the wonderful In The Loop, itself a spin-off from acerbic sitcom The Thick Of It, has adapted the film for the stage with Sean Foley, who also directed the show.
Steve Coogan takes on the daunting task of following in Sellers’ footsteps, complete with a flurry of costume changes.
The official description reads as follows:
Seven-time BAFTA Award winner Steve Coogan stars in the acclaimed adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece Dr. Strangelove. With a world-renowned creative team led by BAFTA and Emmy Award winner Armando Iannucci and Olivier Award winner Sean Foley, this explosively funny satire of mutually assured destruction will leave a whole new generation of audiences laughing and afraid.
The cast also features Giles Terera, John Hopkins, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Penny Ashmore, Ben Deery, Richard Dempsey, Mabli Gwynne, Mark Hadfield, Tony Jayawardena, Tom Kelsey, Daniel Norford, Dharmesh Patel, Adam Sina, Alex Stoll and Ben Turner.
It’s a busy time for Armando Iannucci. Not only is he working on a film about social media, he also recently launched a production company called Touchscreen. According to the British Comedy Guide, Touchscreen will work with BBC Studios “to develop and co-produce innovative, daring and world-class scripted programming for the UK and international markets”.
Dr Strangelove will be broadcast in cinemas on the 27th March 2025. You can find your nearest screening here.
