Here is an interesting article from the Telegraph about the selection process of Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy in the upcoming big-screen production of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

The process reflected the difficulty of finding an actor who combined the necessary personal qualities with the young age specified by Austen, said the film’s co-producer Paul Webster.

“Mr Darcy is very much a man’s man,” he added. “I don’t think they make them like that any more - men don’t become men these days until 35.

“Matthew is a big guy, lovely, macho and - I have to say - very sensitive, but he has a great power and ability to control the screen.”

An interesting tidbit included in the article is that Chatsworth will be the setting for Pemberley. Moving on up, to the East North Side…

We will track both Jane Austen nonfiction (biographies and criticism) and paraliterature (continuations such as Mr. Darcy’s Daughters, modern updates such as Bridget Jones’s Diary and pastiches such as The Jane Austen Book Club).

There will be lots of Jane at your cineplex in the coming months, and we’ll be keeping an eye on all of it for you. We are breaking down the category into subcategories addressing each of the upcoming productions.

The purpose of this weblog is not to be a scholarly resource–there are already plenty of those on the Internet–but to collect and organize information about Jane Austen in popular culture: films, books and any other manifestation of Jane that crops up. As our tagline reads, “She’s Everywhere.”

We also hope to be a resource for the Janeite who wishes to separate truth from rumour. Fandom abhors a vacuum, and Janeites tend to be a somewhat Catherine Morlandish lot, ready to believe anything because they read it in a book or in the newspaper or on the internet. At AustenBlog, conjecture and rumor will be clearly labeled as such, and we will use our resources to confirm or deny whatever we can. We are allergic to misinformation and delusional speculation makes us reach for our vinaigrettes.

We will endeavour to present information objectively. We have other places to rant and vent about eejits who don’t get it. Please do not take our dispassionate demeanour as endorsement or condemnation.

We’re still working on the look and functionality of the site. Keep checking back for news and updates.