While Elizabeth is visiting Jane at Netherfield, she verbally spars with the haughty Caroline and the aloof Darcy. Later, visiting the Bingleys, Jane falls ill and must stay to recuperate. Bingley and Jane are immediately taken with each other, while Elizabeth instantly dislikes the snobbish Darcy and overhears his dismissive remarks about her. At an assembly ball, Bingley, his sister, Caroline, and his friend Mr. Bennet, eager to secure suitable marriages for her daughters, is delighted when wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley moves into nearby Netherfield. Bennet and their daughters – Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia – live at Longbourn, their estate in rural England. Austen scholars have opined that Wright's work created a new hybrid genre by blending traditional traits of the heritage film with 'youth-oriented filmmaking techniques'. It received generally positive reviews, and also received four nominations at the 78th Academy Awards, including Best Actress in a Leading Role for 20-year-old Knightley, making her the third-youngest Best Actress nominee at the time. Pride & Prejudice earned a worldwide gross of approximately $121 million, a commercial success. It was marketed to a younger, mainstream audience promotional items noted that it came from the producers of 2001's romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary before acknowledging its provenance as an Austen novel. The film's themes emphasise realism, romanticism and family. Produced by Working Title Films in association with StudioCanal, Pride & Prejudice was released on 16 September 2005 in the United Kingdom and on 11 November in the United States. Knightley was well known in part from her role in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, while Macfadyen had no international name recognition.

The filmmakers had to balance who they thought was best for each role with the studio's desire for stars. Wright found casting difficult due to past performances of particular characters. It was shot entirely on location in England on an 11-week schedule. Wright and Moggach set the film in an earlier period and avoided depicting a 'perfectly clean Regency world', presenting instead a 'muddy hem version' of the time. Wright encouraged greater deviation from the text, including changing the dynamics within the Bennet family. Screenwriter Deborah Moggach initially attempted to make her script as faithful to the novel as possible, writing from Elizabeth's perspective while preserving much of the original dialogue. Keira Knightley stars in the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet, while Matthew Macfadyen plays her romantic interest Mr. The film features five sisters from an English family of landed gentry as they deal with issues of marriage, morality and misconceptions. Pride & Prejudice is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Joe Wright, in his feature directorial debut, and based on Jane Austen's 1813 novel of the same name.

Pride and prejudice era