When I say I have been yearning for Emerald Fennell’s book to screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights, that’s putting it lightly. Especially now we’ve heard from the Saltburn director herself on what we can expect from her version of Emily Brontë’s famous classic.Arriving at Cineworld on 13th February, you can book tickets now to see it in IMAX and Superscreen.While the purists are in uproar over casting, historical accuracy, and the like of Wuthering Heights, I couldn’t be more excited to see something that is sure to be so visually eye-catching and entirely Emerald Fennell. Who doesn’t love a good passionate yet soul-destroying love story?Emerald wanted to create an adaptation that encompassed how it felt to read it for the first timeEveryone experiences art differently, whether it’s a book or a film. This is Emerald Fennell’s version of Wuthering Heights, both the way she experienced it as a teenager, as well as everything she hoped for but didn’t get. It’s an amalgamation of Brontë’s work with Fennell’s own whimsical, lovesick imagination. And we can all relate to that, right?That’s what Margot Robbie had to say about it in an interview with Fandango, and the idea has me absolutely enchanted. “There’s been so many movies and TV series and stuff made, but I think the point of difference here is this is Emerald making you feel the way the book made her feel when she read it.”When talking about taking on an adaptation of a book as pivotal as this, Fennell said, “Look, there’s a version that I remembered reading that isn’t quite real. And there’s a version where I wanted stuff to happen that never did. And so it is Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t.”If you’ve watched any of Emerald Fennell’s other movies, you’ll be very happy to be back inside her head for Wuthering Heights, that’s for sure. It’s all provocative fun and a little bit of weirdness.Emerald wants us to cry so hard we vomit while watching Wuthering HeightsIn the same all-cast interview, Robbie also pulled back the curtain on something else Fennell had disclosed with the star about her hopes for the adaptation: “I want people to cry so hard they vomit.”Sobbing? Crying? It’s all the same thing at this point. And we all know Emerald loves bodily fluids if that bathtub scene in Saltburn is anything to go by.Whether you find that visual disgusting or not, I think this is a pretty great indicator of how tumultuous this adaptation is going to be. And I’m ready to be ruined – if that wasn’t already completely obvious.The way Emerald Fennells talks about the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff is just everythingIf you’re not here for stories that find love in unlikely places or it being so wrong it’s right, then fine, maybe this isn’t for you. Like I said, I love a story that emotionally ruins me, and that’s exactly how Fennell describes it.“When I first read it, it destroyed me. But it didn’t just destroy me, because it’s beautiful and it’s sad. It’s a very destabilising work of art. It’s a very complicated thing, because what Emily Brontë asks us to do is to love two– In fact, not two, a whole realm of incredibly difficult and unlovable characters.”There’s nothing more interesting to me than, you know, making everyone fall in love with people who maybe aren’t traditionally lovable.”Hell yes, sign me up!Emerald Fennell’s explanation of the quotation marks around Wuthering Heights and her commitment to the classic that she lovesSome may disagree on this, but I actually think Emerald Fennell really respects Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights in its original form, and that she shows that appreciation by completely cutting it up and sticking it back together in a way that is entirely different.The fact of the matter is you’ll never be able to adapt something completely faithfully. Still, Fennell put the work in – speaking to the Brontë parsonage and to other fans of the book in order to create something they feel a part of.However, when talking about the choice of quote marks around the title on the film poster, Fennell said, The thing for me is that you can’t adapt a book as dense and complicated and difficult as this book. I can’t say I’m making Wuthering Heights. It’s not possible. What I can say is I’m making a version of it.”Also, as previously pointed out by the queen Margot Robbie, there’s been a lot of adaptations. What’s the point in producing the same thing again? Here for female directors putting their own stamp on things and creating something completely left field and fun.The costume design is just incredibleSure, fine, they’re not exactly accurate to the period, but what Jacqueline Durran has achieved is simply enchanting. Described as “a fantasy of a fantasy”, tailored to the character rather than the time period of the book.Margot Robbie’s Cathy is a blonde bombshell sporting German milkmaid-esque corsets and Elton John sunglasses that would put the musician to shame.In an interview with Vogue Australia, Duran shared that between 45 and 50 costumes were made for Cathy, with inspiration taken anywhere from Elizabethan to Victorian times, to the 1950s, and more modern styles.It’s all beautifully meshed together, incredibly bold, and, yes, provocative.The skin wall is insane – as are all the other visualsThe costumes are amazing – but, holy moly, can we take a moment to talk about the visuals? All we have to go on is the trailer, but I am simply obsessed with the skin wall and a frustrated Cathy that we see thrown against it, digging her fingers into the flesh.Then there’s Thrushcross Grange, baby blue and there in miniature too as the dollhouse, with shots of Cathy mirrored as both a doll and Margot Robbie in all her beauty. Of course, there’s the dramatic Yorkshire moors, too, and the pooling red vinyl floor that seems to continue off of Cathy’s dramatic bloodred skirt.This movie is about to be my entire personality.Charli xcx has written the soundtrackShe gave us BRAT summer, and now she’s giving us whimsical winter with her tracks for the Wuthering Heights soundtrack. A few tracks have already been released ahead of the film, including “Chains of Love” which I’m simply obsessed with.I think it’s a choice to have one artist signed on for the whole soundtrack. It’s giving seamless. It’s giving capsule. It’s giving chic. And I think Charli xcx’s sound is perfect – electric and experimental while still being sultry and maybe a little bit dirty. (Alice Marshall)
Do you believe films based on literature have a duty to be faithful to the source material, or should filmmakers run with their interpretations?I tend to favor adaptations that try to capture the spirit of the literary base-text, as opposed to total fidelity. The most recent Frankenstein, for instance, also starring Jacob Elordi, veers wildly from Shelley’s original, yet seems also to convey the wonderfully complex strangeness that she built into her amazing novel. In terms of Wuthering Heights adaptations, I appreciate the versions that try to account for the multi-generational aspect of her plot. Most film versions stick to Cathy and Heathcliff. Cutting the entire second half of the novel isn’t in keeping with the spirit of her work.Yes, “Wuthering Heights” is most famous for the romance between Catherine and Heathcliff. What other aspects deserve more attention?Certainly, the second half of the novel, which centers on the children of the key first-half figures, deserves more filmic representation. Versions that only give us the first half undercut the complexity of Brontë’s non-linear plot, not to mention the various doppelganger effects at play. The novel’s emphasis on cycles of violence and the extent to which the past haunts the present gather particular force in the novel’s second half. I also think that Nelly [Dean] deserves more attention. While she’s not the narrator proper (that’s Lockwood, in the novel’s framing device), she’s nevertheless the key to all information that we get about both the Earnshaws and the Lintons in the novel.What about “Wuthering Heights” is often misunderstood by modern audiences?I think that the drama of the tortured love theme often distracts away from the emphasis Brontë places throughout the novel on properties and possessions. This is a novel deeply interested in who owns what — and how they come into that ownership. While the supernatural theme doubles down on “possession,” it’s Brontë’s critical view of the patriarchal arrangements of the material world that carries the most force.Of past film versions of the book, which is your favorite and why?All of them have flaws; some are pretty terrible. While I show clips from different versions in class, my favorite is Peter Kosminsky’s 1992 adaption, which stars Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. There are weird things about it, no doubt, but I appreciate the efforts to translate the spirit of the work while also attending to the entirety of Brontë’s plotting.Why is it important to keep discussions of “Wuthering Heights” and other classic works alive today?Classic works such as Brontë’s novel matter more than ever because they force us to think deeply about the complexities of our shared humanity. Human existence cannot be reduced to convenient binaries. “Wuthering Heights,” for instance, asks us to question our tendency to conceive of people as either insiders or outsiders. Classic literary works, like all great art, challenge us to reflect on matters of sameness and difference, to develop empathy for others, and to better understand the ways that the past informs the present. (J.D. Valdepenas)
If you have clicked through and are reading this article right now, I assume you are in one of two camps. Perhaps you’ve actually read Wuthering Heights and think I’m a complete idiot for making it decades without reading or understanding the plot of Emily Bronttë’s seminal work. Or, perhaps you are a person who, like me, has not yet read the book ahead of its upcoming big screen adaptation, and weren’t so sure about the tone of Emerald Fennell’s 2026 movie release.If you are in the latter camp, I must warn you the movie is not an epic romance. Yes, I’m as shocked as you (maybe) are. I honestly only know this because I went to an all-hands meeting with the CinemaBlend team the other day and enthusiastically spoke about Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie doing a romance together. It was awkward crickets in the room for a hot minute before my colleague finally told me I needed to reset my expectations about what’s coming in Wuthering Heights. Embarrassing? Positively. Was I grateful for the heads up? Only time will tell.To my credit, Valentine’s Day is usually a big weekend at the box office for some sort of romantic flick. This slot can lend itself to some darker romances like Fifty Shades of Grey, but a lot of February releases tend to be lighthearted, like How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days or Hitch. So, sorry I didn’t totally get the memo here with Wuthering Heights.I honestly probably should have seen this turn of events coming. I did see Saltburn, and it was one of the wildest movies tonally I’d ever gotten through. Given Fennell’s track record with that movie and Promising Young Woman, I suppose I should have expected some complications outside of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi staring adoringly into one another’s eyes.Listen: I know I’ve outed myself as ridiculously uninformed, here, but to defend myself once more: It’s not as if I thought this would be a rom-com in the vein of Emma. You can tell from the Wuthering Heights trailer there will absolutely be some drama. I know, for example, there are some familial complications, and that Heathcliff must leave to seek a fortune. From what I’ve seen, Margot Robbie’s character seems to be left with few choices in the marriage department. I guess I just assumed this would all wrap up with a neat little bow, or at least some Titanic-level romantic ending.That’s not true in the least, apparently, and we’ve either gotten some genius level marketing that will surprise audiences (I blame the use of Charli XCX’s pop track “Chains of Love”), or else I’m like the last person to know what Brontë’s novel is about. I honestly don’t want to spoil anyone or even look into how Wuthering Heights wraps, so I’m planning to go into the movie unspoiled, then read the book, now. Still, I do think it’s worth a warning that this will not be the feel good hit of 2026. Emerald Fennell clearly prefers her storytelling to be a little bit messed up, and that will continue with the release of Wuthering Heights next month. Though the casting director did even say "English lit fans" won't be happy. So, who really knows what's coming down the pipeline?Just don’t say I didn’t warn ya. (Jessica Rawden)
To keep you on your toes, we’ve also included some hot-right-now book picks here, the likes of book 6 in the “Game Changers” series (behind the sensation that is Heated Rivalry) and Wuthering Heights: the latter about to be given a new, 21st-century lease on life by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.Let the coziness commence.The Brontë Sisters Boxed Set: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, VilletteSure, Wuthering Heights is getting all the attention right now, what with its on-screen version coming to theaters a day before Valentine’s Day, but the novels of Emily Brontë’s sisters are equally era-defining. This box set from Penguin Classics has it all: from Jane Eyre, which will make someone named Mr. Rochester live in your head rent-free, to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, a 1848 title that centers on a young widow who becomes the talk of the town courtesy of her hyper-independent and reclusive personality.The best part about this comfort-read buy: Once you devour Wuthering Heights in a few sittings, you can easily reach for another Brontë masterpiece, and then another. Maybe it’s just us, but we’d be tempted to call in sick to work — just for the sake of diving deeper into the psyches of female heroines who manage to reinvent themselves after tragic pasts. (Stacia Datskovska)
Jane Eyre (2011)Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender lead this moody and romantic adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s most famous novel. After enduring a cruel and abusive childhood as an orphan, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) hopes to gain some independence by seeking employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, Jane develops a unique and complex relationship with Thornfield’s owner, the brooding Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender). While the two come to realize their feelings for each other are more than just friendly, a disturbing mystery keeps them from taking their relationship further. (Chelsey Sanchez and Ella Ceron)
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