Screen Gems has just set "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" for a Feb. 19, 2016 release date with Burr Steers directing. This will put the film in direct competition against the EuraCorp thriller flick "Shut-In," which stars Naomi Watts.
The film was initially scheduled to be released in 2015 back when Lily Collins was still attached as the lead character. Several delays in development led to directors and actors dropping in and out of the project. At one point, David O. Russel was said to be directing.
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" now stars Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet. The rest of the Bennet sisters are to be played by Bella Heathcote, Suki Waterhouse, Ellie Bamber, and Millie Brady. Their suitors will be played by Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Sam Riley, and Jack Huston.
It has also been reported by The Independent that "Game of Thrones" stars Charles Dance and Lena Headey would be in the film as well. There has not yet been any official announcement on the roles that they will play but there are speculations that Dance would be portraying the father of the Bennet sisters.
The film is based on the 2009 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and is a re-written spin on the classic Jane Austen original with the introduction of zombies. In this alternative universe, zombies have been around for several decades and the Bennet sisters have been trained as formidable zombie slayers.
Its plot still retains the major aspects of the Austen classic, particularly Mrs. Bennet's insistence in finding suitable husbands for her five daughters. Now, however, the sisters and their mother not only have to deal with social norms but also with the ever-growing threat of zombies.
Seth Grahame-Smith is also the writer of the novel "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" which was put into film by 20th Century Fox.
