Natalie Portman is set to star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the bestselling parody novel based on Jane Austen’s classic. Re-written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the plot and tone of the book is apparently kept much the same as in the original- a woman looking for love and independence in aristocratic 19th century England- but adds in zombies and kung fu and lots of gunplay.
Portman will play Elizabeth Bennet, a trained zombie killer who’s being married off to a wealthy suitor. While we certainly don’t need any more zombie movies the idea of a period piece starring an ass-kicking Portman is certainly an amusing one.
Lionsgate is financing and distributing the Quirk Books novel. If this hits big, expect them to also pick up their second novel, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. No, that’s not a joke. Quirk Books editor Jason Rekulak kicked off this ridiculous and profitable idea of merging fanboy characters with public domain classics, and they probably aren’t going to stop any time soon.
So thanks, people. If this hits big we can expect to see every major literary work get zombies and pirates and monkeys added to them. Great.
Wonder how War and Peace and Ninjas will work on our messageboards.