Thursday, November 20, 2008

Rumour: New adaptation of Emma in the works


*Bounces up and down excitedly!*

There's a rumour going around that the BBC are making a new miniseries based on Jane Austen's Emma, which should be aired in 2009!!!!!! I've only just found out about it, I'm so thrilled!

I've had a gut feeling for the few months that the next JA adaptation would be a new version of Emma. . . and I was right! I can't believe it!

The BBC haven't announced anything officially, but according to AustenBlog, Sandy Welch (who wrote the screenplay for the wonderful North and South as well as the 2006 version of Jane Eyre) has a written a four-part miniseries adaptation of Emma! A nice break from the recent slew of Andrew Davies costume dramas. . . 

Richard Armitage fans have already begun a campaign to get him cast in the role of Mr. Knightley. It is my personal opinion that RA is a little too good-looking for the part, but other than that minor 'disadvantage', I think he would make an excellent George Knightley. :-)

And so now the speculation begins. . . who will play Emma? Frank Churchill? Harriet Smith? Will Richard Armitage play Mr. Knightley, or will it be some other actor? (Probably the latter, I'm afraid.)

Which actors would you cast if you were the director?


Current Mood: Ecstatic!

12 comments:

Livi said...

Another Emma!!! That would be cool, though the other ones are good too.

The Editrix said...

It would be VERY cool! We've been lucky enough to have not one but two very good adaptations of Emma so far - hopefully this will be the third worthwhile version of Emma.

It does seem a bit imbalanced, though -- an abundance of excellent Emmas, but still no outstanding adaptation of Mansfield Park or Northanger Abbey. . . MP83 was good, and NA07 tolerable, but I would really really love to see the BBC do an MP miniseries. I would also like to see a big-screen version of NA -- I think that out of all the JA novels, NA has possibly the best chance of working well as a theatrical release.

Jessica McDonald said...

I love your blog!!! The posts are SUCH fun to read!!

I hope this version turns out well!! I honestly have no idea who should play which part...well, except that I do agree that Richard Armitage would make an excellent Mr. Knightly! *BIG GRIN* Of course, I almost decided that i disliked him after watching the Robin Hood series and he's the "bad guy". :( But "North and South" puts me back to rights again! :-D

Have a wonderful week!

~Jessica

The Editrix said...

Hi Jessica! Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you like my blog -- I've been enjoying yours for some time now. :-)

You know, what I would really love best of all would be to see RA playing Frederick Wentworth, from Persuasion. Of course, he would have made a brilliant Mr. Darcy, but I fear he is getting too old to be Darcy. . . he'll go down in history as the greatest Mr. Darcy that never was!!

But I don't really care who he plays - Knightley, Darcy, Wentworth - we've just got to get him into a Jane Austen movie before he's a grandfather!!!

Dawn Dancer said...

Hmm. A new Emma! I can't imagine it being better than the Gwyneth Paltrow one, but I love seeing remakes, even if they aren't better than the others. Especially since this one will be so much longer.

Richard Armitage as Mr. Knightly! Oh, my! I think that would be lovely.

Gwyneth Paltrow IS Emma Woodhouse in my book...

The Editrix said...

I think both Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale did a great job playing Emma. I do hope, however, that the actress playing Emma in this upcoming adaptation is blonde. To me, Emma Woodhouse will always be a blonde, unlike all of Austen's other heroines, whom I have always pictured as brunettes or black-haired beauties (with the exception of Marianne Dashwood, who has honey-blonde hair. . . ).

Jessica McDonald said...

I guess I just love the new Captain Wentworth! LOL. The new Anne was terrible, I thought, but Captain Wentworth was *perfect*. Not that I've ever read "Persuasion" so I guess I wouldn't know what he's like in the book! :-D
Hehe...YES! He would make a perfect Mr. Darcy! I liked the *new* Darcy but after watching it several times I realize that he always has this whiny look on his face. RA would never have such a thing. :-D

AGREED! He must be in SOME version. No matter which!

Toodle Pip, Jessica

The Editrix said...

LOL, looks like we've finally found something to disagree upon in JA adaptations! :-)

I have read Persuasion several times, and while I didn't much like Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth in Persuasion 2007, I thought Sally Hawkins as Anne was wonderful! My favourite version of P., however, would have to be the 1995 version with Amanda Root Ciaran Hinds.

I have another friend who isn't overly fond of the '95 version - she prefers the '07 version, and unlike me, she liked RPJ as Wentworth a lot!

BTW, I wrote a [rather brief] review of P'07 after I watched it - you can read it here, if you want to.

Anonymous said...

What wonderful news!!! I also hope RA would apply for Mr Knightley. He'd make him perfect! (Even though I must say I liked Jeremy Northam as Mr Knightley very much.) But for the mini series, it should be RA!!!

The Editrix said...

I couldn't agree more. :-)

Robert said...

A miniseries version of Emma sounds good!

I'd like to see how it compares to the A@E version which I thought was much better than the Paltrow one.I liked Mark Strong and Kate Beckinsale-I didn't picture Emma as a blonde.

I found your site from the followers of the YLCF.I've enjoyed looking at your period drama reviews.

The Editrix said...

Hey Robert! Glad you enjoyed my reviews. :)

LOL, it's funny how different readers can develop such different ideas as to what various literary characters look like! :)