Mr. Darcy is headed to Atlanta. It’s been 13 years since the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, where Matthew Macfadyen walked across a foggy field to profess his love to Kiera Knightly, and Lifetime thinks it’s time to switch up Jane Austen’s tense and repressed love story. This time it’s moving across the Atlantic to the Southern USA.
According to Deadline, Lifetime greenlighted the remake aptly titled Pride and Prejudice: Atlanta, which takes place in modern-day Georgia and centers around a family of Atlantan churchgoers, starring a black leading cast to portray the Bennet family.
In this remake, Reginald VelJohnson plays Reverend Bennet, a Southern Baptist church leader. His wife, the Bennet matriarch, is portrayed by Jackée Harry, who is the author of a self-help book on how to find the perfect husband. As in Austen’s book and film adaptations of her classic, Mrs. Bennet’s true motivation in life is curing her five daughters—Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia, and Kitty—of their single status.
What makes this adaptation even more exciting is that the wild, boy-crazy Lydia is played by hip hop royalty Reginae Carter (Lil Wayne’s daughter). This will be Carter’s first fictional feature film, though she’s appeared on VH1’s reality show Friends & Family Hustle and her father’s 2009 documentary The Carter. The other sisters will be played by Raney Branch, Brittney Level, and Alexia Bailey, with Tiffany Hines starring in the lead role as Elizabeth or Lizzie Bennet. The movie centers around the arrival of the eligable Will Darcy (Juan Antonio). When comes to Atlanta, Mrs. Bennet sees it as the perfect opportunity to set up her stubborn daughter.
The movie is set to debut on Lifetime in 2019.
