Natalie Portman to Star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I’m sure you all know about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith’s Jane Austen mash-up that, as the title suggests, adds a healthy dose of the undead to the literary classic and transforms its heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, into a zombie-killing martial artist.

Since the book hit shelves last Spring, there have been rumblings of a film adaptation. This week, Variety reports that Natalie Portman—who already established her geek credibility in the Star Wars prequels and V for Vendetta—has signed on to star in and produce the Victorian-era monster mash.

“Natalie and I are longtime passionate fans of Jane Austen’s books and this is a fresh, fun and thought-proving way to approach her work,” says Portman’s producing partner Annette Savitch. “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.”