‘Dr Strangelove’ Gets First-Ever Stage Adaptation From ‘Veep’s Armando Iannucci

Armando Iannucci, renowned satirist known for his work on “Veep,” has embarked on a challenging endeavor: he is penning a stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War masterpiece, “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb.” This marks the first time that one of Kubrick’s films will be adapted for live theater.

The BBC broke the news, revealing that Iannucci’s adaptation has received the blessing of Kubrick’s family. Christiana Kubrick, Stanley’s widow, expressed their initial hesitance to allow anyone to adapt his work, but the exceptional talent involved and the opportune moment prompted them to authorize this project. She stated, “The time is right; the people doing it are fantastic; and Strangelove should be brought to a new and younger audience. I am sure Stanley would have approved it too.” Additionally, Iannucci has been granted access to Kubrick’s archives, delving into earlier script drafts and discarded scenes that were never filmed. Some of these materials have been incorporated into the upcoming production. Co-written and directed by Sean Foley (known for “Brass Eye” and “Mindhorn”), the stage adaptation will retain the original’s ’60s setting. Similar to the film, Iannucci and Foley are on the hunt for a versatile actor to portray the three pivotal roles that Peter Sellers played, including the eponymous Dr. Strangelove.

“Dr. Strangelove: We’ll Meet Again”

Originally released in 1964 when the world was still reeling from the harrowing Cuban Missile Crisis, “Dr. Strangelove” serves as a darkly comedic satire of Cold War nuclear politics. The film depicts a dystopian scenario where megalomania, paranoia, and ineptitude converge, threatening to wipe out humanity in a nuclear catastrophe. Yet, amidst the bleakness, the film continuously elicits laughter, whether it’s through the absurdity of a non-existent fight in the Pentagon’s War Room or the iconic image of an airman gleefully riding a nuclear bomb, hat in hand, into oblivion. Alongside Sellers, the cast features George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, and James Earl Jones in his film debut. “Dr. Strangelove” was well-received by critics and audiences upon its release and is now hailed as one of the greatest comedies ever made. Its themes remain relevant to this day. Iannucci remarks, “Not just with the war in Ukraine, but also the whole apocalyptic sense of global warming and so on – it feels like a very relevant reassertion of the message that, this is the madness staring at us if we don’t do anything about it. And currently, we aren’t doing anything about it. So the outcome is not good.”

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Hailing from Scotland, Iannucci is acclaimed for his biting and profane political satires. He created “The Day Today,” which introduced the enduring character Alan Partridge portrayed by Steve Coogan, and “The Thick of It,” which propelled Peter Capaldi to international fame. Iannucci later shifted his satirical focus to the United States, developing the highly acclaimed political satire “Veep,” with Julia Louis-Dreyfus embodying an outrageously inept U.S. Vice President. He has also directed three feature films: “In the Loop,” a spinoff from “The Thick of It,” the uproarious “The Death of Stalin,” and the 2019 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “The Personal History of David Copperfield.” Additionally, he created and wrote the HBO science fiction comedy series “Avenue 5,” which was canceled last year. Currently, he is working on “The Franchise,” a satirical take on the production of a superhero movie.

Iannucci’s stage adaptation of “Dr. Strangelove” is set to premiere in London’s West End next autumn. Stay tuned to FilmSweep for future updates, and you can watch the trailer for Kubrick’s classic film from 1964 below.

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More about Stage adaptation

• BBC News: ‘Dr Strangelove’ gets first-ever stage adaptation from ‘Veep’s Armando Iannucci
• IMDb: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
• The Guardian: Armando Iannucci to adapt Dr Strangelove for the stage
• Stanley Kubrick Biography – Britannica
• Armando Iannucci – IMDb
• London Theatre Guide (for updates on the stage adaptation’s premiere in London’s West End)