Pride and Prejudice 2026: What’s one more adaptation?
/Do you like classics? The Regency era? What about romance? If the answer is yes, then you’d enjoy Pride and Prejudice. Whether you start by reading the novel, watching the 1995 television series or the 2005 film, you are guaranteed to love the story. Pride and Prejudice is a widely loved novel by Jane Austen and has been adapted at least 16 times, the first being in 1940, and is now being adapted once more into a television series on Netflix.
A Favorite Story’s Comeback
It has nearly been five years since the previous adaptation, Pride and Prejudice: A New Musical, was released. The film hardly spiked any interest, unlike the major success of the Pride and Prejudice film from 2005 and now we are getting a brand-new adaptation.
Image courtesy of Netflix
Back in July, Netflix announced a brand-new adaptation that is currently in production. From best-selling author Dolly Alderton and director Euros Lyn we can expect to see a six-part mini-series as early as next year.
Around the same time, Netflix announced their cast list, upon the list are big names in cinema and tv, such as Olivia Coleman, Jack Lowden and Emma Corrin. All of which were cast in the bigger roles for this production. Additionally, Netflix also released the cast list for the rest of the bigger roles for this story at the Tudum event.
What Fans Want to See
Fans typically know what they’re getting into when it comes to Pride and Prejudice, which is what many are expecting. They want hatred, love, tension, something they can swoon over.
Image courtesy of Penguin Classics
What’s really needed is the portrayal of each of the characters to be as they were designed in the novel and to have the character details shine through in the future series, so that the fans can really fall in love with every one of the characters represented.
Better yet, what fans want to see above all is a proper love story with sweet and romantic love declarations. They want to swoon over yet another Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, adding them once again to their list of characters that they can never get over.
Sparking Controversy
After hearing the news of the new adaptation, many fans speculate if they need to make another one or whether they should leave their beloved story alone for the time being. Many fans are still hung up on both the 2005 film and the 1995 series. Leaving many to question if anything could ever beat their favorite remakes. Maybe the same will happen this time around.
Image courtesy of Modern Library
But one of the many questions that keep coming up when discussing this new adaptation is about the casting. Are they really the best people that they could find for this series? While happy over the casting of Olivia Coleman as Mrs. Bennet, fans are upset over the cast of Mr. Darcy (Jack Lowden) and Elizabeth Bennet (Emma Corrin). Claiming that Lowden looks nothing like what they would expect a Mr. Darcy would look and same goes for Corrin and Elizabeth Bennet.
Fans want their remake done right and trying to surpass the success of past adaptations might prove to be a challenge for Netflix. Especially after such a negative impact from the fans over the cast, it leaves us to wonder as to whether or not this new adaptation will really be good and surpass expectations.
Keeping An Open Mind
With this upcoming adaptation and having watched the past successes of the others, it is probably best to keep an open mind. While it is one of the most popular stories in the world, it is something that will be different. Especially since fans of the 1995 adaptation were also questioning whether or not the 2005 adaptation would be a success, and it just so happened to become one of the most talked about Pride and Prejudice adaptations today.
Alyssa Simard is currently a student at Algonquin College’s Professional Writing Program. She spends her time with her family, reading, watching shows and movies. She prefers to spend her time getting absorbed into fictional worlds, whether they’re her own creation or one that she’s read or watched. Her dream is to one day become a published romance author and share her love for reading and writing to the world.
