Alert Janeite Zoe wrote to tell us that a preview of ITV’s “Winter Dramas” has been posted on YouTube, including glimpses of the new adaptations of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park.

Looks like the Mysterious Disheveled Byronic Gent is indeed Henry Crawford. And we liked Captain Tilney cruising Isabella Thorpe way more than we ought.

Discuss away.

Lori Smith (author of the upcoming book A Walk with Jane) wrote to let us know that she has started a “Jane Austen Quote of the Day” blog.

Pamela Jane, a children’s book author, is looking for cat owners in Bucks County, PA who are willing to have their cats photographed for a Jane Austen-related book project. The owners will receive photos of their cats. Please contact Pamela Jane at pj303 AT nyu DOT edu (that’s an e-mail address; read it out loud, or leave us a comment if you are having trouble.)

Variety reports that Miramax is refocusing on small specialty films and positioning them for awards.

In fact, with a small staff comprising of Weinstein holdovers, Battsek intimates and new hires, Miramax is trying to avoid trends at other specialty divisions.

“Not to be all retro about it, but we really want to get back to what specialty units used to be,” Battsek says. He defines that especially through a push for awards, which he calls “a vital part of our DNA.”

With his fashionable sweaters and refined mannerisms, the British Battsek cuts an elegant figure.

And his two big fall releases are true to those roots: They center on British themes and star British actors. (Besides “The Queen,” there’s Peter O’Toole topliner “Venus,” which involves O’Toole playing a thesp whose life is changed by a teenager.) But company’s upcoming slate is a mix of the refined and the commercial.

Next year, the company will release Lasse Hallstrom’s “The Hoax” (about a fake bio of Howard Hughes, starring Richard Gere and Marcia Gay Harden) and the Italian Oscar submission, Emanuele Crialese’s immigration drama “The Golden Door.”

There’s also thriller “The Lookout,” starring Isla Fisher and Jeff Daniels, as well as “Becoming Jane,” in which Anne Hathaway plays the young Jane Austen, before she became a famous author.

What does this mean for the rank-and-file Janeite? Expect a lot of very positive media about the film. In itself that is not a bad thing; but keep in mind that a bunch of Middle Aged Austen Whores pointing out that it’s really a Made Up Story might get lost in the roar.

Don’t believe everything you read in the papers. Or on the Internets, for that matter. And yes, that includes this blog. Question! Think! Debate!

(That being said, we can heartily recommend THE QUEEN. Great flick, and Helen Mirren is, as always, spectacular.)

We missed this on our Upcoming Books roundup post a little while back, but Austenland by Shannon Hale is due to be released on May 29, 2007.

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen—or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It’s all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

Sounds like Jane needs a copy of The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World, doesn’t it? *runs off, giggling*

Actually we wish someone WOULD make an Austenland. Wouldn’t that be a blast? In the meantime, Rosalind wrote to let us know about a Pride and Prejudice RPG with many of the main characters still untaken. Rosalind wrote, “It’s very well done, I feel, with more attempt at authenticity of period and language etc. than most RPGs.” Give it a try, if you are so inclined.

Alert Janeite MJRyan let us know that Katie Couric, the anchorperson for the CBS Evening News, has a new puppy, and she has asked for help choosing a name for the puppy on her blog. She is considering names from Sense and Sensibility, though we think someone needs to explain that Elinor was in S&S and Eleanor in Northanger Abbey. And Elinor’s sister is Marianne, and Mary Anne was stranded on Gilligan’s Island with Ginger.