Much like its titular antagonists, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has been shuffling aimlessly in development for close to five years at this point. But having finally found its way in front of the cameras last month, we now have our first look at the upcoming genre mash-up.
Based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s eponymous novel, Burr Steers’ big-screen adaptation mixes the period with the supernatural and sees the Bennet sisters fight off waves of the undead all the while fretting over the typical melodramatic problems of early 19th century England.
You see, in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the flesh-eaters have been tearing up the countryside for close to seventy years by the time the film picks up, meaning the “Z-word” is about as common as a well-brewed cup of tea. In the image above, the rather badass quintet features Lydia (Ellie Bamber), Jane (Bella Heathcote), Mary (Millie Brady), Kitty (Suki Waterhouse) and Elizabeth (Lily James).
And while the premise may sound too outlandish for those who haven’t read Grahame-Smith’s novel, Lily James argues that the heroines aren’t so different to those found in Jane Austin’s seminal title.
“Even in the original story, Elizabeth’s a fighter and beyond her contemporaries in her ambitions and her ideas of women,” she said. “She’s a badass warrior. She’s a ninja.”
In its long and arduous journey to the silver screen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has experienced its fair share of creative changeovers. However, once Burr Steers and Lily James committed to the film, they quickly whipped the project into shape and added some of the “Pride and Prejudice beats” that were missing hitherto.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is expected to shuffle its reanimated corpse onto the screen in the latter stages of 2015.
