Acclaimed Director Fennell Brings Wuthering Heights to Life in 2026

Emerald Fennell, the acclaimed director behind the 2020 film Promising Young Woman and the upcoming Saltburn, is set to bring Emily Brontë's classic novel Wuthering Heights to the big screen in 2026. Fennell, who spoke about the project at the Brontë Women's Writing Festival last month, has described the film as "completely singular" and "so sexy, so horrible, so devastating."

The casting choices for Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation have already generated online debates. In the book, the character of Catherine is a teenager, but in the film, Margot Robbie, 35, will take on the role. Additionally, some have criticized the decision to cast Jacob Elordi, 28, as Heathcliff, who is described as "dark-skinned" in the novel, as an example of whitewashing.

However, Fennell stands by her casting decisions. She revealed that she had been thinking about making a Wuthering Heights film and felt that Elordi, known for his role in the hit series Euphoria, "looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read." As for Robbie, Fennell believes the actress has the "power, an otherworldly power, a Godlike power, that means people lose their minds" - qualities she felt were essential for the character of Catherine.

Wuthering Heights, which also stars Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell, is set to hit theaters on Valentine's Day 2026. Fennell has promised that the film will be faithful to the source material while also leaning into the provocative nature of the story, aiming to evoke the same "emotional, primal, and sexual" response she had when first reading the novel.