String of Austen DVDs complement TV special
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 1/28/2008
JAN. 28 | Costume dramas are back, particularly those that involve Jane Austen, according to Meg Branigan, VP of video marketing for BBC Video. PBS stations aired WGBH Masterpiece’s “The Complete Jane Austen Marathon” weekly beginning in January, marking the first time that TV adaptations of the author’s works have all been broadcast together during one period. And theatrical movies with an Austen connection are coming to DVD in February.
Leading off the TV marathon is a new adaptation of Persuasion, Austen’s final novel. BBC released the movie on DVD two days after the TV premiere, and the DVD got an on-air tag during the broadcast. It’s priced at $19.98.
The other new productions to be aired are Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park from WGBH Boston, which were both released on DVD in January for $24.95 each.
Rounding out the TV lineup are Pride and Prejudice and Emma from A&E/New Video, both already available on DVD.
On Feb. 12, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment debuts Becoming Jane on DVD. The $18.7 million-grossing film stars Anne Hathaway as the young author as she falls in love with a dashing lawyer.
And on Feb. 5, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment bows The Jane Austen Book Club, about a group of women who form a book club around Austen's books then notice their lives paralleling the themes they're reading about.
Both will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, with Becoming Jane priced at $29.99 and $34.99, respectively, and Book Club at $26.96 and $38.96, respectively.
