Two new movies are coming out about Jane Austen and her novel Pride and Prejudice. Both look equally fantastic, original and I can’t wait to see them both. What are there titles you ask? Well I’ll tell you.

The first one is called Pride and Predator and it’s about Elizabeth Bennett and the rest of the Bennett family that are going about their daily lives worried about finding the right suitor whom they love and who also is rich enough to support them, etc, etc, you know, the English Regency period and stuff. That is, until the extra-terrestrial killer alien from the popular series that bears his name shows up on earth and start wrecking havoc. Oh boy, I can’t wait to see the Bennett family and Mr. Darcy cope with the Predator. Oh, and one is going to produced by Elton John’s new movie production company called Rocket Pictures. While Sir Elton isn’t going to be directing the film, he will be supervising the musical selections. Does that mean we can expect a few piano driven love ballads between Eliza and the Predator? Maybe “Can You Feel My Boiling Hot Saliva Acid Tonight?” One can only hope.

The second of our brilliant bastardizations of the classic Austen novel is titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the idea behind it is very similar to our first adaptation except instead of invaders from outer space, our monster is of the human variety, well, sort of. Not only do the Bennett’s have to worry about finding a husband and the Napoleonic wars, they have to be careful their brains aren’t eaten out of their skulls when they’re not paying attention. And I thought Shaun of the Dead was the height of the Zombie/Comedy/Horror genre.

Now you’ve undoubtedly guessed, they are based on books. Well, Pride and Predator is based on a short story called The Amazing Trousers which doesn’t seem to have much to do with the premise actually, and the second is based on the forth-coming book of the same name that isn’t due to be released until April! The rights war that is being fought by the movie production companies was based on the cover that was leaked earlier this year. I am so very excited.

There are a lot of things to read about these two films, so check it out here:
NPR All Things Considered
10 Literary Classics That Could Use Monsters, Robots & Gore
Get ready for ‘Pride and Predator’
Would Jane Austen Had Preferred Aliens of Zombies
The Amazing Trousers Trailer

With most of the actions movies announced thus far looking like absolute chotchey-crap (ie Street Fight the Legend of Chun Li and Dragonball Evolution which is to say bot X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the new Terminator are going to be decent. Time will tell.) these two films made me very excited. I’ve also been off on a horror movie kick every since Curtis Blackwell and I began Horror Movie Monday a few weeks back. Nonetheless, I think these Jane Austen adaptations have a lot of potential for at least being one of the more interesting ideas in the sci-fi/horror/comedy genre that have surfaced in some time. At the very least they’re bringing in an entirely new element, historical fiction rather than 50s, modern day or the future for these kind of settings. What do you think?