Matt Smith, who rose to fame as the eleventh Doctor in
Doctor Who, is joining the cast of Burr Steers' adaptation of
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, according to
The Hollywood Reporter. He joins a cast already filled with Lily James (
Downtown Abby), Sam Riley (
Control), Jack Huston (
Boardwalk Empire), Bella Heathcote (
Dark Shadows), and Douglas Booth (
Jupiter Ascending).
The movie is a horror-comedy spin on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Our heroine, Liz Bennett (James), is pressured by her family to marry into a wealthy upper class home, and chafes at the stiff societal ways of 1800's England. Instead, she feels that she should help defend the countryside against the onslaught of a horrifying zombie plague.
Smith will play Mr. Collins, a parson who is on the look-out for a wife and proposes to Bennett. The film is an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith`s popular novel. Production is set to begin on September 24.