Netflix has released a teaser for their new Pride and Prejudice adaptation, and I have one simple question: why?
No, seriously. Why? What fresh perspective could possibly be brought to Jane Austen's most-adapted novel? The 2005 Keira Knightley version is basically perfect. The 1995 BBC miniseries with Colin Firth is sacred text for Austen devotees. We've had zombie versions, Mormon versions, Bollywood versions, and approximately 47 made-for-TV adaptations.
At what point do we admit that Hollywood has a public domain addiction?
Look, I understand the economics. Austen's works are free intellectual property with built-in name recognition. You don't have to pay for rights. You don't have to explain what it's about. Everyone knows Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
But that's also the problem. Everyone knows Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. Unless you're doing something radically different—and nothing in this teaser suggests they are—you're just reheating the same story for the millionth time.
The teaser itself is handsomely produced, as you'd expect from Netflix's deep pockets. Lots of sweeping countryside shots, period-accurate costumes, and longing glances. It looks exactly like every other Austen adaptation, which is both its selling point and its problem.
Here's the thing about Pride and Prejudice: it's a brilliant novel that's been adapted so many times that it's become wallpaper. Each new version needs to justify its existence, and "It's pretty and we cast attractive people" isn't enough anymore.
This is part of a broader trend. Netflix just greenlit another Jane Eyre adaptation. Amazon is reportedly developing Wuthering Heights. Studios are strip-mining the public domain because original IP is risky and adaptations come with built-in audiences.
But eventually, audiences are going to tire of seeing the same stories repackaged with minor variations. We're already seeing adaptation fatigue with superhero franchises. Period dramas might be next.
Will I watch Netflix's Pride and Prejudice? Probably. Will it tell me anything new about Austen's characters or themes? Almost certainly not.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except me, occasionally. And I know we're about three Austen adaptations away from people realizing they'd rather just rewatch the Colin Firth version.
