Dr Hannah Wilson discusses 2026’s excess of Regency adaptations and reworkings, and discusses why this is a bumper year for Austen.
The BBC’s recent TV adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s The Other Bennet Sister (2020) allows Mary Bennet – mocked by Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice (1813) as a bookish figure who constantly wishes ‘to say something very sensible, but knew not how’ – to step into the spotlight. Ella Bruccoleri’s performance transforms this sidelined character into a charmingly endearing protagonist who leads this ten-episode love story. But this is not the only Austen-adjacent screen adaptation appearing in 2026. Indeed, this year promises many more retellings and re-imaginings for Austen fans who enjoy film and TV as much as the written word.
In September, Focus Features will release a new film of Sense and Sensibility (1811), starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne. Late 2026 also promises a Netflix series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, written by Dolly Alderton and starring Emma Corrin as Elizabeth, Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy, and Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet. Even Clueless, the 1995 film reinterpretation of Emma (1815), has an upcoming TV series reboot, with Alicia Silvertone reprising her role as Cher Horowitz.
One obvious explanation for this sudden resurgence is that 2025 marked 250 years since Austen’s birth in 1775. This milestone sparked a wave of cultural and academic commemorations: the University of Southampton hosted ‘The Global Jane Austen Conference’ in July to demonstrate the diversity and continued popularity of Austen studies, and the Jane Austen House Museum’s ‘Austenmania!’ exhibition celebrated the array of film and TV adaptations released in 1995. Such a significant anniversary has reinvigorated public and scholarly interest in Austen and her novels, stimulating our appetite for new onscreen adaptations.
But the current motivation to create Austen retellings also arises from a broader enthusiasm for the Regency romance genre which has increased within the past ten years. Shona Rhimes’ adaptation (2020 -) of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series (2000-2005) has enjoyed huge success, with Bridgerton’s first and third seasons ranking among the top 10 globally most watched shows on Netflix of all time. The appeal of this romantic romp lies, not just in the sexy love stories, but for the series’ visuals: beautiful costumes, gorgeous Georgian houses, and spectacular balls allow viewers to escape into a glittering romantic world. With Bridgerton enjoying such high viewing figures, Netflix and other productions have surely taken note of this cultural hunger for a Regency love story.
There are, of course, many pre-existing adaptations of Austen’s novels that remain hugely popular today. A well-trodden point of debate among Janeites is whether Andrew Davies’s 1995 BBC series or Joe Wright’s 2005 feature film is the best adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The cultural impact of Davies’s series is such that Colin Firth’s wet shirt lake scene has become a touchstone for many other heroes in other Regency romances (such scenes were featured, for example, in The Other Bennet Sister, Bridgerton Series 2, and the Bridget Jones films (2001-2025)). Film and TV audiences, then, continue to return to these pre-existing works, meaning that new Austen adaptations are likely to still be commercially popular projects in 2026.
But Austen’s novels hold a particular importance to our twenty-first century world that goes beyond nostalgia or escapism, as her discussions of financial anxiety and the difficulties of romantic relationships remain highly relevant today. A 2023 Guardian article examined how the housing crisis is affecting modern dating, pointing out that many single people consider whether a potential partner might inherit a house to be an important factor in their romantic choices. Economist Peter Kenway has warned that we could see a ‘Jane Austen-style marriage market’ as finances take increasing precedence in marital decisions. It does appear that we turn to Regency romances during moments of economic strain: Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances were first published in the 1930s, and the wave of Austen onscreen adaptations in the 1990s coincided with an economic recession. At times of financial difficulty, then, the hope of finding a wealthy suitor to solve both romantic and economic problems appears to be a constant source of escapism.
Moreover, 2026 appears to be a year where people are re-evaluating their approach to finding a romantic partner. Signs of increasing fatigue concerning the use of dating apps – in 2025 Tinder subscriptions dropped by 7% – suggests that people are less keen on meeting someone online and are instead eager to meet partners in person. Onscreen adaptations of Austen’s plots featuring heroine’s struggle to find a marital partner at a ball thus speak to the potential excitement (and social awkwardness) of discovering romantic connections in person.
The many Austen adaptations released in 2026 demonstrate the continued popularity of her novels in the twenty-first century. Austen’s plots discuss the anxiety of social status, economic uncertainty, the difficulty of navigating romantic relationships, the struggle to navigate patriarchal systems, and an enduring hope that we might be able to find true connection and love. Today, our world of economic uncertainty, rising patriarchal views, and disillusionment with dating makes 2026 the perfect time to return to new onscreen adaptations of Austen’s stories to spark these ongoing, and particularly timely, conversations.
Hannah Wilson is a recent PhD graduate in English at the University of Cambridge. Her thesis ‘Gift Exchange and Consent in the Courtship Novel, 1741-1814’ examines the complex relationship between love tokens and consent in female-authored courtship fictions across the long eighteenth century. She has held research fellowships at Chawton House and the University of Birmingham.
To contact Hannah, please get in touch at hew42@cam.ac.uk.
