How did an endlessly adapted book that was written almost two centuries ago become the most anticipated film of 2026? Emily Brontë’s 1847 literary masterpiece Wuthering Heights is a timeless, elemental work. But its latest big-screen incarnation is a bold, enigmatic new take from film-maker Emerald Fennell. Her unique vision and track record – and that of the acting talent she has cast – set this new reimagining apart.
Emerald Fennell
Who is she? Aged just 40, Emerald Fennell is a one-woman zeitgeist with an absurdly large number of strings to her bow, from showrunning series two of Killing Eve and writing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cinderella, to an acting career that includes an Emmy-nominated turn as Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown. She’s even written some children’s books! But she really found her forte as a writer/director. Her Cary Mulligan-starring 2020 debut Promising Young Woman made her an indie darling, but it’s 2023’s gloriously provocative Saltburn that turned her into a major force: in a fragmented world, the class-charged comedy thriller became a rare national talking point.
What’s her role in “Wuthering Heights”? Writer and director.
Why should we be excited? Fennell is not someone who deals in the mediocre or the humdrum, and the prospect of her tackling Emily Brontë’s elemental story of doomed love on the Yorkshire moors has been an enticing and – yes – provocative one from the get-go. It says a lot about Fennell as a film-maker that a project that in other hands would look like a by-the-numbers period drama remains swathed in a degree of mystery: from the gothicky Charli xcx soundtrack to the ravishingly stylised trailer, it’s not so much a “question of what is it?” as “how is she going to do it?”. Whatever the case, we’re all going to be talking about it very soon.
On the curious quotation marks in the title (it’s not Wuthering Heights, it’s “Wuthering Heights”), she told Fandango: “The thing for me is 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 that I’m making a version of it. But really, I’d say that any adaptation of a novel, especially a novel like this, should have quotation marks around it.”
Margot Robbie
Who is she? For many viewers, she is Barbie. But Margot Robbie, the Bafta and Oscar nominated star, has played plenty of other characters besides: Tonya Harding, Harley Quinn, Mary Queen of Scots, Donna from Neighbours. But it’s her tour de force turn as the heroine of Greta Gerwig’s breezily subversive 2023 blockbuster that made her a truly global name.
What’s her role in “Wuthering Heights”? Having co-produced Fennell’s Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, Robbie, as well as being a producer for this film, Robbie steps in front of the camera this time to star as “Wuthering Heights’” ill-fated heroine Catherine Earnshaw.
Catherine is one of literature’s most enigmatic characters – one half of Wuthering Heights’ grand love story and also the centre of a love triangle that leaves her torn between different versions of herself. It’s a very difficult role to portray on film and Robbie has said she was drawn to the character like a puzzle you want to solve.
Why should we be excited? Enticing as the project would still be without her, Robbie’s A-list global star presence helps to tip “Wuthering Heights” over from being a stylish period drama to a major international event movie. She’s a tremendous actor, known for throwing herself bodily into every role and, as such, she promises to give us a Catherine that can step out of the giant shadow cast over the story by her lover Heathcliff.
When asked about the iconic role, Fennell described Cathy as “a movie star stuck in the middle of nowhere with no audience. She’s deeply feeling, funny, her emotions are gigantic, but Brontë is very specific and says again and again in the book that Cathy likes to hurt people, she enjoys pushing to see how far she can get away with something and still be forgiven … Margot is able to encapsulate all of this. Cathy needed to be played by someone with their own dangerous, life-ruining beauty and charisma.”
Jacob Elordi
Who is he? The broodingly handsome Bafta and Oscar nominated actor had been contemplating a break from acting before he was offered “Wuthering Heights”. You can hardly blame him. Barely known five years ago, his casting as villainous jock Nate Jacobs in HBO’s Euphoria turned him into a major star with a furious work rate: he’s taken lead roles in seven films in the past three years, most notably Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, and nice guy Felix Catton in Saltburn.
What’s his role in “Wuthering Heights”? Fennell said that Elordi was the spit of the illustration of Byronic antihero Heathcliff in the first copy of the book that she owned – so twisting his arm to put his career break on ice was a no-brainer. By portraying one of literature’s greatest antiheroes, he follows in the footsteps of major actors to have previously played the role, including Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Ian McShane, Timothy Dalton, Ralph Fiennes, and Tom Hardy. No pressure then …
Why should we be excited? There are plenty of sexy, brooding men in literature, and plenty of actors who can play them. But Heathcliff is darker and knottier than your Mr Darcys. As well as being a serious rising star, Elordi has shown himself to be an actor with a rare gift for playing complicated, morally ambiguous men: he’s the perfect fit, in both looks and style.
“Heathcliff is the original outcast,” says Elordi. “Shouted at, hit, spurned by his father and the world at large. From the start he’s bracing for impact at any time, so his physicality is protective, curled up.”
Elordi’s electric dynamic with Robbie has already garnered much attention. He attributes this to the strength of the characters and the way Fennell has captured their unique bond: “Cathy and Heathcliff’s love – epic, enduring, everlasting and tortured, the sadness they inflict upon each other despite themselves. There’s joy, darkness. It’s an unrestricted look at the complexity of love, without judgment, which makes it relevant as well.”
Owen Cooper
Who is he? Sixteen-year-old Owen Cooper does not have a long CV, but it would be impressive if it only had one entry: he’s “the kid from Adolescence”. His unsettling turn as teenage murder suspect Jamie Miller in the Netflix smash was met by wild acclaim and made him the youngest ever winner of the best supporting actor gong at the recent Golden Globes and at 15 the youngest ever male winner of an Emmy. Now he makes his big-screen debut in “Wuthering Heights”.
What’s his role in “Wuthering Heights”? He plays the younger version of Heathcliff.
Why should we be excited? Young actors don’t get much more hyped than Cooper, and clearly there’s good reason: it’s worth stressing that he was cast in “Wuthering Heights” before Adolescence dropped. It’s probably not healthy to put too much expectation on him: he’s young, and it’s not a lead role. But he’s shown he has the emotional range to handle young Heathcliff’s mix of sensitivity, passion and mania and clearly he’s an actor going places: it’s exciting that “Wuthering Heights” will be where we see his next step.
“Wuthering Heights” in cinemas 13 February. Book your tickets now
