Netflix Set to Adapt Contemporary Jane Austen Retelling 'Pride'

While word on the street is that Netflix is working on a proper new series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, it's apparently not the streamer's only upcoming project connected to the Jane Austen classic. According to Deadline, they're also developing a feature adaptation of author Ibi Zoboi's bestselling 2018 YA novel Pride. The book is described as a contemporary "remix" of Auten's tale, shifting the setting to setting to Brooklyn and populating its story with a diverse mix of multicultural characters from different socio-economic backgrounds. The story deals with timely themes of gentrification, class, and cultural identity.

In this version of the tale, the Bennets are the Benitezs, a Haitian-Dominican family whose five daughters are deeply involved in the life of their community. The Darcys are the much more affluent family who move into their gentrifying Bushwick neighborhood, turning a previously run-down building into a virtual mansion in the process. The clash between them that follows is familiarly Austenian in terms of all the bickering and longing; however, it's laced with timely social themes that will feel very relatable to modern readers.

Pride has had a torturous development history. HBO and Warner Bros. originally optioned it as a TV series, but for whatever reason, that never came to pass. Netflix is now reportedly developing the title into a movie, along with Alloy Entertainment and President Barack Obama's Higher Ground Productions.