The Best Jane Austen Adaptations to Watch While You Wait for the New 'Persuasion' Movie

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Jane Austen purists love to compare the 1995 miniseries to the 2005 remake. By nature of being a series versus a film, the 1995 version is able to really dive into the source material, and it also gives us a very broody Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy — you haven't lived until you've seen him emerge from a lake in a white shirt.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

The year 1995 was a big one for Austen fans, apparently! With a screenplay written by the movie's star, Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility follows Elinor and Marianne Dashwood (played by Thompson and Kate Winslet, respectively), sisters who are forced to seek financial security through marriage. Their suitors? The oh-so-dreamy Hugh Grant and oh-so-stoic Alan Rickman.

Of course, the course of love never did run smooth, and there are a few missteps along the way, including through the gorgeous but deceiving Mr. Willoughby, played by Greg Wise.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

With the Queen of the Period Romance, Keira Knightley, at the helm, the 2005 adaptation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice really plays up the tension between Darcy (Succession's Matthew Macfadyen!) and Elizabeth and begs the question, "How can one, simple hand flex be so hot?"

Fire Island (2022)

Written by and starring Joel Kim Booster, the modern rom-com is a take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, stemming from a real-life trip to New York's Fire Island.

"On my first trip to Fire Island, the book that I brought was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen," Booster recalled in a behind-the-scenes featurette shared exclusively with PEOPLE. "Her observations about class and society did scan onto my experience being on this island, seeing how gay men did the same things within our own community."

The movie, directed by Andrew Ahn, is a delight that really plays up the comedy — how could it not when it stars Saturday Night Live's Bowen Yang, Margaret Cho, James Scully, Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, Torian Miller and more.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Firth returned (although this time without the wet shirt scene) to take on the role of Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary, a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice starring Renée Zellweger as the titular heroine, Bridget Jones, on her quest to find love — and quit smoking and drinking along the way.

Bride and Prejudice (2004)

A Bollywood take on Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice, Bride and Prejudice stars Aishwarya Rai as Lalita Bakshi and Martin Henderson as Will Darcy. This adaptation manages to update the source material while adding some really fun, joyous musical numbers.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

This movie is like someone watched the 1995 and 2005 versions of Austen's 1813 novel and said, "Eh, it's good, but you know what's missing? Zombies!"

Starring Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet, the film imagines a world in which the Bennet sisters are trained to fight off zombies, even as their mother continues to worry about securing advantageous matches for them.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012)

In the heyday of YouTube vlogging, we were gifted this fast-paced, modern, addictive retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Created by Hank Green and Bernie Su and starring Ashley Clements as Lizzie Bennet, this adaptation manages to stick to the original story while freshening up storylines and reimagining some of the relationships.

Clueless (1995)

Stop watching this modern retelling of Emma? As if!

High school is the perfect setting for the tale, which follows Cher (Alicia Silverstone), based on Austen's heroine, Emma Woodhouse, as she navigates high school, plays matchmaker for everyone from her teachers to her new friend, Ty, and deals with her step-brother, Josh (played by Paul Rudd).

Though it takes place in L.A. in the '90s, it sticks pretty close to the source material when it comes to the plot. In this writer's opinion, Cher falling for Josh is exactly as weird as Emma and the much older (in the book he's 17 years her senior), like-a-brother-to-her, Mr. Knightley.

Emma (1996)

A year after Clueless was released, Gwyneth Paltrow picked up the mantle of Emma Woodhouse, acting opposite Jeremy Northam as George Knightley. The film stars other big names like Toni Collette, Alan Cumming and Ewan McGregor.

Emma. (2020)

There's just something delightful about Anya Taylor-Joy's take on Austen's busybody heroine and Johnny Flynn's swoony Mr. Knightley!

Austen's Emma is a story that has been retold and reimagined plenty of times, but the 2020 version captures each character's depth in a really fun way. There's something so relatable about Knightly confessing his love — "If I loved you less then I might be able to talk about it more?" *Immediate swoon* — and Emma promptly getting a nosebleed.

Persuasion (2007)

An adaptation of Austen's 1817 novel of the same name, the 2007 film captures the quiet pining of a second chance at love — the novel's heroine, Anne Elliot, is persuaded (eh? eh?) to break off her engagement with Captain Frederick Wentworth, only to be reunited years later.

Mansfield Park (1999)

The 1999 adaptation of Mansfield Park changes some things about Austen's 1814 novel, namely making colonialism and slavery one of its centerpieces, adding in a few scenes that would be considered scandalous in Austen's time, and making the film's heroine, Fanny Price, more like Austen herself.

Sanditon (2019)

Austen's unfinished, 11-chapter manuscript by the same name served as inspiration for the TV series, which uses Austen's work as the jumping off point for her characters.

It takes place in a seaside town and the first season starred Rose Williams as protagonist Charlotte Heywood and Theo James as one of Austen's broody heroes, Sidney Parker (though he departed the series after season 1). The show was picked up for a second and third season, so you've got plenty to catch up on and look forward to!

Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)

Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by P.D. James, Death Comes to Pemberley features characters from Austen's Pride and Prejudice and begs the question: What happens if we put them all in a murder mystery?

Austenland (2013)

This one's for all the guys and gals who have pictured themselves at the center of a period drama. Starring Keri Russell and featuring Jane Seymour and the always hilarious Jennifer Coolidge, Austenland is a 2013 movie (based on a novel of the same name) about a woman who signs up for the total Austen experience at a British resort. It includes plenty of nods to Austen's Pride and Prejudice and a pianoforte rendition of Nelly's "Hot in Herre."