Like the living dead that roam the 19th-century English countryside of its story, the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has refused to die, shambling on through multiple director and lead actor changes over the past several years to finally begin filming last September. Now we know when to expect to see the living dead of Meryton, as an official release date for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has now been set for early next year.
According to Box Office Mojo, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies will hit theaters on February 19th, 2016, from Sony/Screen Gems.
In the film, “the heroine, Liz Bennett (James), is pressured by her family to marry into a wealthy upper-class home but chafes at the stiff social mores of Victorian England. Instead, she feels that she should help defend the countryside against the onslaught of a horrifying zombie plague.”
Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, and Matt Smith star in the horror comedy. James plays Elizabeth Bennett, Riley portrays Mr. Darcy, Heathcote shall play Elizabeth’s sister, and Smith takes on the role of Mr. Collins. Jack Huston, Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, and Lena Headey, meanwhile, round out the core cast. Among the producers is Natalie Portman, who was once in line to star before departing the project.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is directed by Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down, 17 Again) from a screenplay he wrote with David O. Russell. Along with Craig Gillespie and Mike White, Russell was once attached to direct the adaptation of the 2009 Seth Grahame-Smith horror comedy novel of the same name, itself a parody of Jane Austen’s 1813 classic work of literature, Pride and Prejudice. We’ll keep Daily Dead readers updated on any further announcements. Below is the first photo from the film that was unveiled earlier this year by Entertainment Weekly: