Wuthering Heights new film project

Remember the Ecosse Films Wuthering Heights project, adapted by Olivia Hetreed? Variety and many other media publish today the following press release:

John Maybury will direct a feature adaptation of Emily Bronte's classic gothic romance "Wuthering Heights."
Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae of Ecosse Films are producing the project, which HanWay Films will sell internationally.
Olivia Hetreed ("The Girl With a Pearl Earring") penned the script; casting is under way to shoot in the fall.
"Wuthering Heights," published in 1847, is a tempestuous love story about obsessive passion across the class divide, set on the Yorkshire Moors. It has been adapted for film and TV more than a dozen times, most famously in 1939 with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. A 1992 version starred Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.

The Hollywood Reporter gives a few more details:

Bernstein said he thought "Maybury will bring a provocative edge and modernity to a book which is regarded as the high point in English romantic literature."
Hanway CEO Tim Haslam, tasked with selling the project to buyers from around the world, said: "The eternal popularity of the book shows that this is what people want to see and we believe this story will continue to captivate 21st century audiences." (Stuart Kemp)

The Daily Mail goes further and suggests some names for Catherine's role: the ubiquituous Keira Knightley and... Lindsay Lohan(!):

Keira Knightley and Lindsay Lohan are among the names on a long list of actresses being considered to play one of the most alluring heroines in English literature.
John Maybury has just signed on to direct a new big-screen version of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights in the autumn.
"It's about young passion and how it goes horribly wrong," said Maybury, who made the edgy Love Is The Devil and has just completed The Edge Of Love with Keira and Sienna Miller - both giving their best screen performances to date.
Maybury said he was intrigued by the misguided passion of Heathcliff for Catherine Earnshaw and the repercussions that twisted love has on the next generation.
"It starts in the Liverpool docks, where we first see Heathcliff as a child, the son of a prostitute," Maybury told me.
"Industrial England was so sordid then, so there's something a bit more rugged and raw. This notion of repressed passion is much sexier than the usual bodice ripper."
Working with screenwriter Olivia Hetreed and executives from production companies Ecosse and Hanway Films, Maybury said he's casting his net wide.
Or could Lindsay Lohan play the heroine in Emily Bronte's novel?
"I wouldn't count Keira out, but it's whether or not she wants to get back into period costume. Also, there are some exciting actresses coming up who seem to appear these days fully formed."
He's wary of casting Americans. They may be able to do brilliant English accents, but "that can be slightly annoying, to be honest, and grating, if there's a too-perfect accent by an American actor".
He is a big supporter of the troubled Lohan, though.
"I really believe in the girl and she's coming out from the other side of her problems - she just needs to be treated seriously. I don't count her out," he said.
Robert Bernstein, from Ecosse, said the important factor would be casting the roles younger.
"Heathcliff's usually far too old, and we need an actress who fully understands Catherine.
"This is a story of great passion that has never been done properly on screen and now we have a director who really understands that passion."
If they get this right, it'll be something to cheer. (Baz Bamigboye)

Categories: In the News, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights