Never Have I Ever's Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Is Starring In A Cheeky Pride And Prejudice Remake
Think Easy A, but with Jane Austen.
Between Bridgerton on Netflix and Sanditon on PBS, the regency period has become hot material for adaptation. Netflix is currently doubling down on the era. It’s already got Persuasion, a period piece film doing a direct retelling of the Jane Austen novel of the same name. But its newest adaptation is going the Clueless route, rewriting Pride and Prejudice for the modern era with The Netherfield Girls. And the first Netherfield Girls casting news suggests the new adaptation will be a lot more teen-oriented than you might think.
Jane Austen’s novels paved the way for modern women writers. Masquerading as romantic comedies, the novels are complex, providing scathing satire of the social mores of the time. Nowadays, this social satire doesn’t always make it into the films; modernized remakes will replace it with gentle fun-poking at the current era. (Think Clueless taking Austen’s Emma and turning it into an ultra-’90s styling session and takedown of high school life.) But still, the essence of the source material remains.
The Netherfield Girls appears to be taking that route, marketing itself as a rom-com, a genre that does gangbusters on Netflix even without the literary pedigree. And it’s banking on one of Netflix’s breakout stars to play the Elizabeth Bennet role, with Never Have I Ever’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as the lead.
Here’s everything fans need to know about the upcoming film:
The Netherfield Girls Cast
As Variety reported, Netflix picked up the new adaptation in June 2021, with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan attached to star. But unlike the forthcoming Persuasion (also at Netflix), which was announced and then immediately went into production, The Netherfield Girls has not yet started that process.
Fans will have to keep an eye out to see who ends up as her Darcy (and her Collins). But knowing Netflix’s tendency to hire actors who have worked on other Netflix projects, hopefully, they’ll both be boys we’ve loved before.
The Netherfield Girls Plot
Like other adaptations before it, The Netherfield Girls will loosely follow the Pride and Prejudice plot. For those who haven’t read the Jane Austen classic, it follows the story of the Bennet family, including Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s five daughters. Unfortunately, their estate is entailed, which means the house and fortune must go to the nearest male relative. In short, at least one of the Bennet sisters (in order: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, or Lydia) needs to marry rich to support the whole family.
As the second eldest, Lizzie is under less pressure to marry super well, especially since her beautiful and kind sister Jane has fallen in love with the very wealthy Mr. Bingley and has her sights set on a match when they travel to Bingley’s home of Netherfield Park. Lizzie instead finds herself caught between Bingley’s friend, the infuriating Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Mr. Collins, who is not super wealthy but makes enough that she would be comfortable. Darcy, meanwhile, realizes he’s fallen in love with Lizzie, while she has decided, rather hastily, that he is a pompous jerk who she wants nothing to do with.
As Lady Whistledown would say, Dear Reader, it is the most glorious romantic setup ever.
The Netherfield Girls Trailer
There’s no trailer as of yet for The Netherfield Girls, or even first look pictures. Fans will have to wait.
The Netherfield Girls Release Date
There’s no release date yet for The Netherfield Girls. But considering Netflix’s drive to release a triple-digit number of movies per year and its tendency to have year-long lead times on projects, fans can probably expect the film to arrive in 2022.
