Back in July, Emerald Fennell announced that her next film would be an adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel “Wuthering Heights.”
Deadline is now reporting that Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are set to star in the adaptation of the classic novel. Robbie is set to star as Catherine Earnshaw, and Elordi will play Heathcliff. Fennell is set to write, direct and produce.
The source material does go well with what Fennell has so far tackled in her first two films (“Young Promising Woman" and “Saltburn”) — mental and physical cruelty, revenge, abuse, and the class system. She could Brontë’s story it into a very dark direction, one by which we haven’t seen yet in the other movie adaptations.
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 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.