Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Information

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (stylized as Pride + Prejudice + Zombies) is a 2016 British-American comedy horror film based on the 2009 novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith that parodies the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The film is directed by Burr Steers, who wrote the adapted screenplay, and stars Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance and Lena Headey.

The film was released by Screen Gems on February 5, 2016 in the United States, and by Lionsgate on February 11 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The film grossed just $16 million worldwide against a budget of $28 million, making it a box office bomb.

Plot

In 19th century England, Colonel Darcy (Sam Riley) travels to the home of a wealthy family to investigate rumors of a zombie, revealed to be the house's patriarch. After he executes him, one of the young girls is devoured by the deceased's niece, now also a zombie.

The Bennet sisters"?Elizabeth (Lily James), Jane (Bella Heathcote), Kitty (Suki Waterhouse), Lydia (Ellie Bamber), and Mary (Millie Brady)"?have all been sent to China by their father (Charles Dance) to train in the art of weaponry and martial arts. Mrs. Bennet (Sally Phillips) only wants her daughters to be married off to wealthy suitors. The rich Bingley family moves in and throw a ball, where Mrs. Bennet hopes the young and handsome Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) will win over one of her girls. Elizabeth however is uninterested in marriage and husbands.

At the ball, Bingley instantly falls for Jane. Elizabeth and Darcy start off on a bad note but when a horde of zombies attack the party, the Bennet sisters fight them off. Darcy instantly becomes smitten with Elizabeth when he witnesses her in combat. The Bingley sisters later invite Jane over for tea, and Mrs. Bennet forces her to go on horseback, thinking she will be invited to stay overnight due the oncoming rainstorm. On the way, Jane is attacked by a zombie. At the Bingley's, Darcy orders her confined to a room in fear that she may have been bitten.

Jane recovers, having not been bitten at all. The Bennets are visited by the overbearing Parson Collins (Matt Smith), who intends to marry one of the sisters. He proposes to Elizabeth, but states that she must give up her life as a warrior, something that she refuses to do. The sisters attend another ball, where Elizabeth meets a charming soldier named Wickham (Jack Huston). He tells Elizabeth that he has a dark history with Darcy. Another zombie attack results in Bingley injuring himself.

Elizabeth travels with Wickham to the In-Between, an area outside of the walled-in London, to a church filled with zombies who feed on pig brains instead of human brains, which keeps them civil instead of savage. Wickham asks her to elope with him, but Elizabeth backs off. She and Wickham then meet with Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lena Headey), a notorious zombie-killer with great authority, to persuade her to support the concept of humans peacefully coexisting with the more "civilized" zombies. Darcy and Lady Catherine rebuff the idea. Elizabeth is later told that Darcy has convinced the Bingleys to move away, apparently to keep Bingley away from Jane. When Mr. Darcy approaches Elizabeth with a marriage proposal, she expresses outrage at his actions and fights him. Offended by her accusations, he leaves.

Darcy later writes Elizabeth a letter to apologize and explain that he separated Jane and Mr. Bingley for fear that Jane only wanted to marry Mr. Bingley for his wealth, having overheard Mrs. Bennet drunkenly mention it. Darcy also exposes Wickham's true nature, revealing that he and Wickham were childhood friends but Wickham tried to elicit money from Darcy's estate until Darcy put a stop to it. Wickham then tried to elope with Darcy's little sister for her fortune. The letter also states that London has been overrun by zombies. Elizabeth learns that Wickham has taken Lydia, and is cornered by Lady Catherine, who sees Elizabeth as a threat, as she had intended to marry her own daughter to Darcy. However, after Elizabeth defeats Lady Catherine's bodyguard, Lady Catherine decides to protect Elizabeth's family from the zombies, and takes them to her estate. Elizabeth joins Darcy in London and helps him battle the undead. Darcy rescues Lydia from Wickham and learns that Wickham is actually using the 'civilized' zombies to create a zombie army and overthrow London. Darcy stops him by giving the zombies a taste of human brains, which turns them into savages.

Darcy and Wickham fight, and Darcy sees a zombie bite on Wickham's chest, revealing Wickham has been undead all along, staying civilized by consuming pig brains. Before Wickham can kill Darcy, Elizabeth chops Wickam's arm off and knocks him unconscious. Darcy rides with Elizabeth across the bridge as the army destroys it to keep the zombies from crossing over into London. Darcy is injured in the explosion. Elizabeth tearfully admits her love for him, and after Darcy recovers, he proposes to Elizabeth again, confessing his love, and this time, she agrees. The two have a joint wedding with Mr. Bingley and Jane, officiated by Mr. Collins.

In a mid-credits scene, the now one-armed Mr. Wickham is leading a horde of zombies toward them.

Cast

• Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet
• Sam Riley as Fitzwilliam Darcy
• Jack Huston as Mr. Wickham
• Bella Heathcote as Jane Bennet
• Douglas Booth as Mr. Charles Bingley
• Matt Smith as Mr. Collins
• Charles Dance as Mr. Bennet
• Lena Headey as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
• Suki Waterhouse as Kitty Bennet
• Emma Greenwell as Caroline Bingley
• Ellie Bamber as Lydia Bennet
• Millie Brady as Mary Bennet
• Sally Phillips as Mrs. Bennet
• Aisling Loftus as Charlotte Lucas
• Dolly Wells as Mrs. Featherstone
• Tom Lorcan as Lieutenant Denny
• Jess Radomska as Annabelle Netherfield
• Hermione Corfield as Cassandra

Production

Development

The film is based on the 2009 novel of the same name, which was billed as having been co-written by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. The project was first announced on December 10, 2009, in Variety, when it was revealed that Natalie Portman would both star in the role of Elizabeth Bennet and produce, and that Lionsgate would finance and distribute. On December 14, David O. Russell was announced as the writer and director of the film. On October 5, 2010, it was revealed that Russell had left the production due to scheduling conflicts. Russell later revealed that he had disputes with Lionsgate over the budget. The next day, it was announced that Portman had quit the role of Elizabeth Bennet, though she would still produce the film. Following Russell's departure, Lionsgate offered Mike Newell and Matt Reeves the chance to take over from him, but both declined. On November 3, 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that Lionsgate had held meetings with Mike White, Neil Marshall and Jeffrey Blitz as potential directors. White was hired on November 5. On January 19, 2011, it was announced that White had had to leave the film due to scheduling conflicts with a pre-existing commitment at HBO.

In February 2011, Craig Gillespie took over as director. Gillespie revealed he was attracted to the project by the mashing of genres. In May 2011, screenwriter Marti Noxon was hired to rewrite Russell's script. On October 27, 2011, it was announced that Gillespie had left the film. The project then stalled until March 2013, when Panorama Media joined to produce, finance, and handle foreign sales. In May, it was announced that Burr Steers would take over as director. Steers did a rewrite of the script, saying that he had reinserted "all the Pride and Prejudice beats"?.

Filming

Principal photography began on September 24, 2014 at West Wycombe House & Park, Buckinghamshire. During the Halloween weekend, actors were spotted shooting some scenes at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. In early November, crews were filming at Basing House in Old Basing. On November 13, filming shifted to Frensham in Surrey, where they shot until November 21.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released digitally on February 5, 2016, and physically on February 12 by Varse Sarabande. The soundtrack features the film"?s original score, composed and conducted by Fernando Velzquez.

Release

On March 30, 2015, Screen Gems originally set the film a release date for February 19, 2016. However, on April 22, 2015, Screen Gems pushed back the film's release date this time to February 5, 2016. The film was released by Lionsgate in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 11, 2016.

Marketing

In October 2014, Entertainment Weekly published the first photo from the production. In July 2015, Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Jack Huston, Matt Smith, Burr Steers and Seth Grahame-Smith appeared at a panel at Comic-Con to promote the film, where the first trailer debuted. On October 9, 2015, the UK teaser trailer and poster were released. On October 22, 2015, Screen Gems released the first official US trailer and poster. On November 26, 2015, Lionsgate UK released a full-length trailer and the film's first official British poster.

Home media

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on May 31, 2016.

Reception

Box office

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies grossed $10.9 million in North America and $5.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $16.4 million, against a budget of $28 million.

The film was released in North America on February 5, 2016, alongside Hail, Caesar! and The Choice. The film was projected to gross $10-12 million from 2,931 theaters in its opening weekend. It earned $300,000 from previews showing on Thursday night and $5.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing below expectations and 6th at the box office.

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 42%, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies manages to wring a few fun moments out of its premise, but never delivers the thoroughly kooky mashup its title suggests." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 45 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B?" on an A+ to F scale.

Rafer Guzmn of Newsday wrote positively about the film, giving the film three out of four stars, calling it "an unexpected and off-kilter treat, thanks to a BBC-quality cast and (un)deadpan humor." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, commenting that "PP&Z is rated PG-13, so the zombie gore is decidedly decorous. But before repetition dulls the party, the movie gets in a few juicy innings." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film two out of four stars saying "Compared with other Jane Austen movies, it isn't much, but compared with other zombie apocalypse movies, it's an intelligent, literate effort." Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club gave the film a C, commenting "That this particular retelling of the Jane Austen novel feels like a Cliffs Notes version is understandable; that its zombie bits are equally rudimentary, though, is more disappointing." Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "If more inventive than scary, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies breathes fresh life into the hugely popular, but now desperately predictable, undead genre." Mark Kermode of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Yet torn between Austen and the undead, Steers seems unsure how straight to play either element, blunting comedy, horror and romance alike. The result lacks bite"?the one element that zombies and Austen should have in common." Helen O'Hara of The Daily Telegraph also gave two out of five stars, saying "If it had been more elegant in its storytelling, it could have been a fun genre crossover, but the best efforts of Steers and his cast can"?t turn the overstuffed book into a film that makes any real sense." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, saying "Both pride and prejudice still play their parts, but now in service to one tediously repeated joke: the sight of a gentleman or a lady, together or alone, playing cards or ballroom dancing, fatally swarmed by devouring zombies."

Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film one and a half out of four stars, saying "Like the novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is predicated on a simple, single gimmick: It"?s Pride and Prejudice "? with zombies. This is a vaguely amusing idea which somehow got stretched out to an entire book, which somehow became a best seller, which inevitably means it had to be made into a film." Keith Uhlich of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, calling the film "Lumbering, lifeless and"?strange thing to say about a cadaver"?almost entirely charmless." Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press also gave a negative review, saying "This story might have been better suited to a television adaptation. The characters would have been allowed to breathe for a beat in that case. Here, the action and violence take up the space that would have generally been used for character development." Stephen Whitty of New York Daily News gave the film two out of 5 stars, saying "The hungry monsters in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are looking for nice big brains. Well, they won't find any here." Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave the film one and a half stars out of four, commenting ""Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" delivers what its title promises: a little romance and some undead villains, plus a bit of comedy. But this overly busy riff on Austen's winning formula doesn't justify all the tinkering." Britton Peele of The Dallas Morning News gave the film a B?, calling the film "Fun, funny, gory and yet still strangely romantic."

Literary scholar and Austen professor Devoney Looser stated in Entertainment Weekly magazine her opinion that the film's first half, and especially Matt Smith's Mr. Collins, were comic, jarring, and enjoyable. She assessed the film overall with, "I laughed a lot and I shrieked. I was wavering between B+ and A?. I"?m willing to bump it up for its originality and live with my grade-inflation reputation: A?." Zombie expert Clark Collis did not rate the film quite as high: "I enjoy genre movies that attempt something different"?and this does"?but I didn't find it all that scary. I'd give it a 'B'".