Emerald Fennell's ‘Wuthering Heights' Snubs Netflix — Warner Bros. Acquires Rights

A recent report spoke of a bidding war sparked up to acquire Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights.” It came to the point where Netflix was offering $150M to snatch up the film, by far the highest bid. There was just one problem: Fennell and her producer, Margot Robbie, wanted a full-fledged theatrical rollout.

Warner Bros has finally acquired the rights to release Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” starring Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie. Netflix’s $150M bid for the film has been confirmed, but the producers went with a lower offer from Warners to ensure a global theatrical release. Good for them.

The bids were dizzyingly high, but the problem was that Fennell and Robbie were determined to see this one go the theatrical route with P&A spend. In the continuing push and pull between theatrical, streaming and the will of artists,

Dan Lin, the new head of Netflix’s film unit, kept insisting to Fennell/Robbie that the $150M offer was “far more than other bidders” and that Fennell would only be so lucky to get a fraction of that money elsewhere. He was not wrong, but Fennell/Robbie were justifiably worried that their film would get lost in the barren algorithm-infused landscape of a Netflix rollout.

Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria has already claimed that full-fledged theatrical releases are “not our model,” echoing her boss, co-C.E.O. Ted Sarandos. Bajaria repeatedly stated, “We’re just in a different business.” Well, given Warner’s ‘Wuthering’ pick-up, and the Netflix snub, it’s quite clear that you’re in a different business, Bela.

One of the most tormented love stories ever written, “Wuthering Heights” tackles troubled orphan, and antihero, Heathcliff and his doomed love for Catherine Earnshaw. The ensuing ramification of his unhealthy affection for Catherine sets up a tale of revenge and social climbing.

There have been four movie adaptations of Brontë’s novel, released in 1939, 1970, 1992 and 2011. I liked the 1970 version, starring Timothy Dalton, but there’s always room for improvement as I don’t believe there’s been a definitive take on the source material. Not even Andrea Arnold could muster up a great film out of it. Maybe Fennell will finally “crack the code” in that regard.

Fennell’s ‘Wuthering’ adaptation is currently in pre-production mode and gearing up for a UK shoot in 2025. No further details have been revealed at this time, including whether it would be a modern-day adaptation of Brontë’s novel.