With Regency romance period drama very much in vogue, Netflix are bringing Jane Austen’s Persuasion to our screens and it will star Dakota Johnson

Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) will star an adaptation of Persuasion for Netflix. Here’s what we’ve learned so far…

For one thing this will not be a period drama, but a modern retelling. Jane Austen purists may already be nervous at this news. The adapted plot is:

Anne Elliot is an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities, living with her snobby family who are on the brink of bankruptcy. When Frederick Wentworth — the dashing one she once sent away — crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances…

This probably means far fewer horse-drawn carriages and grand balls! The adaption is by Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, it’s produced by Andrew Lazar and Christina Weiss Lurie and Carrie Cracknell (who directed Jake Gyllenhall and Tom Sturridge to Tony nominations last year in Sea Wall/A Life on Broadway) will make her feature directing debut.

If you wonder what else Johnson has been doing since Fifty Shades, she recently starred in the drama Our Friend and next will be seen in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter and Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro’s Am I OK? You can read more in the Netflix announcement.