New 'Sense and Sensibility' Adaptation Faces Steep Box Office Drop After Digital Debut

This has been a surprisingly major year for adaptations based on landmark feminist literature. The year began with Emerald Fennell's controversial Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. The subversive movie divided audiences and grossed more than $240 million worldwide against a reported budget of $80 million. The year will end with a new Netflix series based on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Another Austen adaptation debuted theatrically a few weeks ago, and is now available on the PVOD market following a so-so box-office run.

The new movie is the latest in a long line of adaptations of the cornerstone novel, which was originally published in 1811. It was previously adapted into a blockbuster 1995 movie directed by Ang Lee and starring Emma Thompson, and a BBC One series featuring Dan Stevens. The latest adaptation was directed by Georgia Oakley and features Daisy Edgar-Jones in the lead role.

The new movie comes on the heels of fellow adaptations of classics such as Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, starring Emma Corrin and Jack O'Connell. Both those movies were released on Netflix to entirely contrasting reception. While Persuasion was generally panned for its Fleabag-coded interpretation of Austen's classic, Lady Chatterley's Lover was well-received.

Here's How Much the New Jane Austen Adaptation Has Grossed at the Box Office

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The new movie, Sense and Sensibility, takes an old-fashioned approach to the material. Also starring Esmé Creed-Miles, George MacKay, and Caitríona Balfe, it now holds a "Certified Fresh" 78% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Elevating the Dashwood sisters' relationship to the forefront of Jane Austen's classic tale of courtship, Georgia Oakley's Sense and Sensibility may not best previous adaptations but achieves a wistful identity of its own."

The new Sense and Sensibility debuted in 2,545 theaters before dropping to 1,888 theaters in its third week. Following the conclusion of a rather short theatrical window, the movie was removed from a further 1,357 theaters in its fourth week. It's now playing in 531 locations nationwide. It's also available on the PVOD market, having debuted in the top 10 of the domestic iTunes viewership chart. Sense and Sensibility was a modest hit, considering its short run. It grossed around $40 million worldwide against a reported budget of $25 million. By comparison, Edgar-Jones' previous book adaptation, Where the Crawdads Sing, generated around $150 million worldwide against a similar budget.