A UK teaser trailer for Pride And Prejudice And Zombieswas released on Friday and there is plenty of Regency era zombie ass kicking to see! Everyone is at least somewhat familiar with the classic English romance Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen. A tale of manners and misconceptions as Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters navigate the rocky waters of love and status on the English countryside. The character of dashing Mr. Darcy has even managed to set impossibly high standards for men all over the world. All you have to do is watch the 1995 six-hour miniseries starring Colin Firth and you’ll see what I mean. And the movies,Lost In Austenand Austenland address that very phenomenon.
This latest twist on the Bennet sisters is based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who took the original text by Jane Austen and gave it a dash of zombies and badassdom. Pride And Prejudice And Zombies was published in 2009, a whole year before the AMC debut of The Walking Dead, and enjoyed a nice ride of success as zombie fever swept the world. In this adaptation of the classic story, the Bennet sisters are lethally trained fighters hunting down zombies with samurai swords while struggling to survive the proper social confines of Regency society at the same time.
The film adaptation hit several stumbling blocks along the way including multiple directors signing up and dropping out and a cast ranging from Anne Hathaway and Blake Lively to Natalie Portman (who dropped out of the lead role but remained as a producer). The production finally settled on a cast with Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet, Bella Heathcote as Jane and Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy. Doctor Who’s Matt Smith was also cast as Mr. Collins. The film began shooting last year and debuted footage at San Diego Comic Con in July. The film is scheduled for release February 5, 2016.
