From one seemingly bucolic (albeit depraved) area of the English countryside to another, multi-hyphenate writer, actor and director Emerald Fennell is plunging back into the desolate wastelands of grand manors and aristocracy with her latest film.
Announced on social media, the Academy Award winner will adapt Emily Brontë’s magnum opus Wuthering Heights as her latest project. Indeed, Fennell might be leaving the bathtub-lapping interloper Oliver (Barry Keoghan) behind in the Catton’s country residence. Still, she is far from done dissecting the haunting and turbulent interiors of pastoral settings.
Wuthering Heights marks Fennell’s first adaptation of original material, having penned the screenplay for both her sucker-punch of a freshman film, Promising Young Woman, and the wickedly titillating Saltburn.
Margot Robbie and her husband Tom Ackerly produced both films under their LuckyChap Entertainment banner, though there’s no confirmation that the soon-to-be first-time parents will collaborate on this film. (They do, however, own the film rights for Ottessa Moshfegh’s critically acclaimed ‘goblin mode’ 2018 novel, My Year Of Rest And Relaxation.)
The rich romantic and gothic setting of Yorkshire’s moors offers no shortage of inspiration to be mined, with this ghost tale already promising to drive audiences mad as per the artwork accompanying the news.
Time to blast Kate Bush’s single of the same name and keep scrolling below for everything we know about Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights film.
Is Emerald Fennell Adapting Wuthering Heights?
Emerald Fennell announced she will bring Wuthering Heights to the silver screen on July 13. She subsequently changed her X (formerly known as Twitter) bio to the book’s title and updated her banner to the artwork appearing alongside the announcement.
Designed by artist Katie Buckley, the fine-line illustration features a deconstructed skeleton seemingly brewing a potion. Heathcliff’s dark plea for love from the two-volume book also appears, reading: “Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad!”
What Is Wuthering Heights About?
Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë’s first and only book, originally published in 1847 under the pen name Ellis Bell. Charting several generations over 30 years, Wuthering Heights predominantly follows the destructive and all-consuming love shared between Heathcliff and his adopted sister Catherine. The novel unravels through diaristic entries, multiple narrators, apparitions of deceased loves and the harrowing backdrop of stormy moors making it a quintessential gothic read.
We won’t reveal anything further about the plot should you be saving yourself for Fennell’s rendering, however, Brontë’s complex study of obsession and revenge has spawned countless adaptations. (Including Kate Bush’s famous 1978 art-pop single of the same name.) British director Andrea Arnold (American Honey, Bird) most recently reworked the novel for the screen, however, focused on Heathcliff and Cathy’s often-overlooked childhood in a starkly elemental examination starring Kaya Scodelario.
Who Is Cast In Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights?
We finally have some names attached to the hyped project.
Barbie herself is set to star as the leading Catherine, with Margot Robbie confirmed to take on the role. She’ll star alongside fellow Australian Jacob Elordi as the tortured Heathcliff.
Given the expansive nature of the book, it’s unclear if Fennell will be faithful to the original material and re-tell their exhaustive three-decade romance, or focus on a particular fragment of the novel. Safe to say, she can rely on Greta Gerwig (who adapted Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women in 2019) for any assistance when it comes to navigating the pitfalls of translating hundreds of pages into a singular script.
When Will Wuthering Heights Be Released?
With roles only just announced for Wuthering Heights, it is expected filming will only begin in the UK in 2025, per Deadline. Until then, you can revisit the 1992 film starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, the original 1939 production with Laurence Olivier or even the fictional depiction of Emily Brontë’s life, Emily starring Emma Mackey.
More to come.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
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