English teacher’s across the world will probably have a heart attack when they read this next bit of news.

MTV are reporting that Natalie Portman is set to produce and star in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice…OK, now I know what you’re thinking. Do we need another Pride and Prejudice adaptation? Well what if the adaptation happens to be based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?

That’s right, this classic piece of English literature is to be given a massive injection of adrenaline with a zombie outbreak.

Out of all the horror sub-genres, zombie movies are by far my favourite, but come on. Do they really have to desecrate a classic story? I’d have no problem with a generic period zombie film. It’s definitely an untapped area within an already over-saturated genre. But this just seems like a lack of originality. You could take any classic piece of literature and add zombies or aliens or even vampires. So if this proves successful what could be next? A Christmas Carol and Zombies… War and Peace and Aliens… You get the idea.

What really made me laugh when I read the article was this quote from Portman’s producing partner Annette Savitch…

Natalie and I are longtime passionate fans of Jane Austen’s books and this a fresh, fun and thought-provoking way to approach her work. The idea of zombies running rampant in 19th Century England may sound odd, but it lends a modern sense of urgency to a well known love story.

She’s right you know, zombies certainly do add a modern sense of urgency to love stories.