“Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy, I’ve come home, I’m so cold.” In casting news that an algorithm could have perfected for the buzzy, TikTok world that we live in, Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have been cast in an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, directed by Emerald Fennell. MRC has enlisted the acting and producing talents of Robbie to help get the project off the ground via her production company, LuckyChap, all according to an exclusive report from Deadline.
This marks the third collaboration between LuckyChap and Fennell, following their work on her recent film Saltburn and the Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman, for which Fennell earned an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Elordi, of course, was one of the stars of Saltburn, so the stars have absolutely aligned on this one. Robbie is set to star as Catherine Earnshaw, and Elordi will play Heathcliff. Fennell is set to write, direct, and produce, and the film is in pre-production gearing up for a UK shoot in 2025.
Robbie was most recently in Barbie, which became the highest-grossing film of 2023, earning $1.4 billion at the box office and receiving eight Oscar nominations, and will be in Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, set to release in May 2025. Up next for Elordi, he will star in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, directed by Justin Kurzel, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. He also recently portrayed Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola‘s Priscilla. And ideally, he might film Season 3 of Euphoria before he turns 30.
What Is ‘Wuthering Heights’ About?
Written by Emily Brontë and first published in 1847, the original book is a classic Gothic romance novel that revolves around the intense, flammable, and often destructive relationship between Heathcliff, an orphan taken in by the wealthy Earnshaw family, and Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of the family. Set in the English moors and spanning generations, the book is one of the most enduring and long-lasting stories in English literature.
There have been numerous adaptations of Wuthering Heights across various media, including film, television, radio, theater, and even music (Hi, Kate Bush), with this the latest iteration. Heathcliff has been played by actors as varied as Tom Hardy, Ralph Fiennes, James Howson, Timothy Dalton, and Lawrence Olivier, while Catherine has been played by the likes of Kaya Scodelario, Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Riley, and even Kate Bush herself in the music video for her hit song, “Wuthering Heights.”
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on this incredibly exciting development. In the meantime, you can watch the 1992 version starring Fiennes and Binoche on Hoopla.
via Collider