The first trailer for Emerald Fennell’s new take on Wuthering Heights promises a more erotically charged take on the classic Emily Brontë novel.
Fennell, who won an Oscar for her screenplay for Promising Young Woman, directs Australian actors Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Catherine and Heathcliff. The supporting cast includes Hong Chau, Martin Clunes and the Adolescence breakout star Owen Cooper.
The project started a bidding war in 2024 after Fennell’s second film, Saltburn, overcame divisive reviews and poor box office to become a hit on Amazon Prime. Netflix reportedly offered $150m but the deal was won by Warner Bros, who paid just $80m, with both Fennell and Robbie expressing their desire for a theatrical release.
Last month saw reports that the film received mixed reactions from an early test screening. Early viewers allegedly called it “aggressively provocative and tonally abrasive” with one scene of a public hanging in which the “condemned man ejaculates mid-execution”.
This week also saw billboards go up in major UK and US cities teasing the release with provocative imagery and the tagline used in the trailer: “drive me mad”.
Robbie is coming off the back of smash hit Barbie and will be seen later this month opposite Colin Farrell in the fantasy A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. Elordi, who gained fame on TV’s Euphoria, has since starred in Priscilla and On Swift Horses and will next be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
Earlier this year, Elordi spoke about Wuthering Heights in an interview with Deadline. “The performances from everyone – it’s breathtaking,” he said. “It’s an incredible romance. It’s a true epic. It’s visually beautiful. The script is beautiful. The costumes are incredible.”
The choice to cast Elordi has already led to a backlash, with many fans of the novel pointing out that Heathcliff is described as having dark skin. The casting director, Karmel Cochrane, defended the decision earlier this year.
“There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot,” she said. “But just wait till you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not. But you really don’t need to be accurate. It’s just a book. That is not based on real life. It’s all art.”
The novel has seem numerous adaptations over the years, including William Wyler’s 1939 film and Andrea Arnold’s 2011 version.
The film is set to be released on Valentine’s Day next year.