A new screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights?

Screen Daily reports that producer Alison Owen may be working on a new screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

The company’s output has tended towards female-centric stories, but Owen “never set out with this mission statement to make films about women” in her career.

“People used to joke when I was running Ruby [Films, Owen’s company prior to Monumental], every single film poster was a woman’s name – Elizabeth, Sylvia, Tamara Drewe, Jane Eyre,” recalls Owen. “When I first came up in this industry, I did feel a real need for [women’s stories]. I’m a huge believer in ‘see it to be it’.”

Owen is reuniting with Studiocanal for a feature adaptation of Wuthering Heights, with a director attached and casting underway. A shoot for either later this year or spring 2025 is pencilled in, with Owen saying the project “is going to be very different” from the multiple previous adaptations of Emily Bronëe’s novel. (Ben Dalton)

Broadway World gives 4 stars out of 5 to Underdog: The Other Other Brontë.

The Brontë sisters have long been considered an essential part of the British literary canon. Their stories, once scandalous, are now loved by generations of readers. There’s also no secret that they had to fight for their voices or words to be heard. Both against the system and, in Sarah Gordon’s new play, against each other, too. 

A co-production between The National Theatre and Northern Stage, Underdog: The Other, Other Brontë, is an attempt to shed light on the life of the “other, other Brontë,” Anne. Despite being the author of what is now considered “one of the first feminist novels” (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall), her work is generally lesser known than that of her sisters. As a result, there’s only a fleeting amount of information about the person behind the pen - aside from accounts given by her sister, Charlotte.

For this reason, it's hardly surprising that the version of Anne conjured up within this production is also constructed by Charlotte. In fact, the play opens with Charlotte describing her intentions to share her sister’s story, requesting that we not judge her too harshly for what is about to transpire. 

Underdog is a story of sisterhood, but it would be perhaps better to describe it as a story of ambition. All sisters dream of being able to write - but none as vivaciously as Charlotte, who dreams of being remembered. While this ambition is crucial as the women begin to enter a notoriously patriarchal industry (even publishing under male pseudonyms, to begin with), it eventually causes fractures within their relationships, too. Friendly rivalry becomes a direct competition, and success is no longer shared. 

While there are a lot of dramatic moments within the production, Underdog is largely a comedy. Modernised language and tongue-in-cheek humour allow audiences to resonate with the sisters on a deeper level, introducing them to us in an entirely new way. 

Much like the real-life Charlotte Bronte, Gemma Whelan is a force to be reckoned with on the National Stage - commanding the audience’s attention throughout. Here, expert comic timing and a real humility allow her to present a version of Charlotte that is both shameless and ashamed of her actions. She’s partnered nicely by Rhiannon Clements as Anne, whose ambition proves to be just as strong as that of her sisters. Clements brings a much-needed tenderness to the stage, which reaches its heights during a particularly heart-wrenching scene in Act 2 with Adele James as Emily. 

Emily is notably absent for large portions of the script, but James’ makes the most of every second she has on stage. The trio are backed by a talented ensemble throughout, who are largely used as comedic relief - earning some of the bigger laughs of the night. 

Though there's a lot of talent to be found within the cast, the staging is perhaps the most impressive aspect of Underdog, with designer Grace Smart creating a truly stunning stagescape featuring hanging flowers, moss, and leaves. 

The play is a remarkable study of ambition and sisterhood and how we can sometimes stand in the way of those we love. Despite this, its political commentary could be harder-hitting, especially considering how much these women were up against in entering the publishing world. 

Either way, directed by Natalie Ibu, Underdog The Other, Other Brontë is an ambitious retelling of history, one which celebrates female strength above all else. (Abbie Grundy)

Broadway Baby gives it 4 stars as well.

But if you’re expecting to learn about the least known Brontë, you may be disappointed. The star – the rock star – of this gloriously funny play is most definitely Charlotte. And it’s a Charlotte unlike any you may have seen before. [...]

In Underdog, writer Sarah Gordon suggests that this knowledge may not be fact. The story of the Brontës may be just that: a story. The roles played by each sister invented, or at least exaggerated, by Charlotte, or more likely, those around her. Her posthumous biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell, appears to admit as much in her appearance here.

Knowing of their struggles against adversity increases the appeal and makes their work all the more powerful. Winning underdogs are venerated and mythologised into popular history. A miserable life, a welcomed death, a literary legacy. (...)

The cartoonish style and meta delivery make the whole thing very light-hearted. It is not to be taken seriously. Historians may feel it is an unfair portrayal of Charlotte, pointing out that there is no evidence of any plagiarism. But this isn’t a Radio 4 documentary. It isn’t rewriting the Brontë history we know and love.

This is more akin to a BBC3 comedy. It aims to be a lot of fun. And it succeeds. It takes the ideas we know and hypothesises. It’s not dissimilar to Upstart Crow, the Ben Elton comedy that bends the truth to make comic fiction out of Shakespeare. Any “Dear Sir” to The Telegraph, decrying factual inaccuracies of the play is just a misreading of the room.

That said, the comic style makes it difficult to land any serious point. At its undercurrent is a suggestion that only valiant women can be pedestalised. Even then, we will chip away at their position. Whilst this is a valid argument, it doesn’t have much weight here. Particularly, the clunky metaphor that puts Charlotte “back in her box” at the end, feels too obvious, simplistic, and out of place with what we’ve been watching.

Underdog: The Other Other Brontë may not provide a historically accurate story of the Brontës. But don’t let that put you off. As a show, it is accessible, enjoyable, engaging, and very, very funny.

And I did discover something new. Not about the Brontë sisters, particularly. But what it’s like to sit in the Dorfman and be surrounded by the sound of laughter. (Simon Ximenez)

The Guardian interviews actor and comedian Rosie Holt.

As a teenager growing up in Somerset, she dreamed of becoming an actor, and won a place at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Afterwards, however, she struggled to get auditions – eventually landing her first job in a touring production of Wuthering Heights by gatecrashing one. Yet that wasn’t a springboard to success. “After that, everyone was going: ‘Why don’t you just gatecrash another audition?’ I was like, ‘I can’t do that all the time!’” (Rachel Aroesti)

Times Now News lists '10 female characters in classic books who broke stereotypes' and Jane Eyre is one of them.